Singing on Paddington Street

This public artwork by Julia Vogl is a visualisation of a popular song, coded by the form and placement of coloured glass panes. Conceived for a feature wall on the exterior of a new residential block in Marylebone, the finished structure consists of 42 pieces of laminated glass suspended from stainless steel brackets over four levels.

Working in collaboration with Julia, we supported the development of her initial idea into a structurally sound design. Liaising between the artist, building contractors, structural engineers and local council representatives, we managed the logistics of fabricating and installing the piece in accordance with stringent planning regulations. 

This ambitious and technically challenging installation in central London also required extensive dialogue between our studio and a network of specialists. Our partners at Blackburn Metals sourced stainless steel stock for the project from Germany, which was then laser cut and polished by Lasershape. Glass manufacturer Romag supplied the toughened laminate, which was coloured with Vanceva film to the artist’s specification.

We worked closely with specialist metal fabricator Bob Hollywood to manufacture the steel structure and develop an installation methodology for the finished artwork. The brackets were completed in our studio before being transported to site. Here, working at heights of up 16 metres, our installation team welded the steel components together before each pane of glass was then bolted into place by hand.