TreeLines at night

This sculpture involved extensive early design strategies to ensure the patterns were correctly transferred from drawings to computer readable formats to enable the precision cutting of the large stainless steel plates. The overall design and manufacturing process had to be given technical approval with the input of structural engineers. The structure was fabricated from 15mm 316 grade stainless steel supplied polished on both sides in 4 x 2 metre and 3 x 1.5 metre plates. The patterns of roads and pathways on the trunk section were sand blasted prior to final welding so careful attention had to be given to the lining up of each pattern to ensure readability across the surface when welded together. This project included community involvement through local schools where pupils explored local ”townland” names, over 200 examples of which were engraved on the trees lower surfaces to suggest birch bark patterns.