Artist: Lucy Simpson
Fabricator: Axolotl
Location: Kogarah, NSW
Water Story is a pair of new artworks designed for the new St George Hospital Acute Services building by artist Lucy Simpson, a Yuwaalaraay woman, designer, and maker based on Wangal Country in Sydney. The artworks were structurally engineered by Partridge from initial design through to site installation, with fabrication and installation completed by Axolotl. The art wall consists of 31 unique glazed panels forming a gently textured flowing graphic besides the main lobby stairs. Modern antibacterial ribbons of copper fabric hung from an organically shaped frame make up the suspended artwork, allowing gentle kinetic movement under a breeze.
Contained within the hospital foyer, one of the primary drivers that governed the design of both artworks was ease of maintenance to ensure that the artworks remain clean in the sterile environment whilst also ensuring that all the structural components remained discrete to minimise impact on the artist’s concept of flow.
A discrete series of steel frame members fixed to the wall were designed to support the weight of the individual glazed panels with structural silicone holding the panels in place and providing resistance to wind loading. The glazing detail minimised the visual interruption and also allows individual panels to be removed and replaced if required. The build-up of the laminated glass consists of a printed graphic interlayer with a combination of two layers of glass to provide the structural integrity to the glazing panel.
An organically shaped steel frame forms the primary structure from which flowing steel rods were shaped and welded to the frame to create the hanging rails for the copper fabric. The frame is suspended from four discrete hanging points that allow the artwork to be lowered and cleaned and then raised back to its display position by means of an electric hoist, hidden by the circular ceiling structure engineered to resist the sway loads of the artwork. The hoist and ceiling components had to be designed to work around the many services and PT strands contained within the slab which required careful coordination and complex details.
With some creative engineering, Partridge has helped to successfully deliver a pair of artworks that delicately balance the original organic intent with the stringent safety requirements.
