The Lotus flower for Slovenská sporiteľňa
An oversized fibreglass artwork of five petals for the new Slovenská sporiteľňa headquarters in Bratislava. The first project of its kind in Slovakia.
Architecture and custom artwork
About the project
For the new Slovenská sporiteľňa headquarters in Bratislava, an oversized artwork was created in collaboration with Štúdio Kubinský (Monika and Bohuš Kubinský): a lotus flower in fibreglass. It was the first project of its kind in Slovakia and a one-off, unique artwork at oversized scale.
Brief and challenge
The flower had to read as one clean form even though it is made of five oversized petals. The hardest parts were:
Hidden structure
The load-bearing structure inside the flower had to remain entirely invisible from outside.
Lighting
Channels for the lighting had to be worked into the parts.
Invisible joints
The petals had to be joined so that the seams could not be seen.
Painting without contact
During surface painting the part could not touch the ground.
Changes on the clock
Changes during production had to be absorbed while still hitting the installation date.
Transport and installation
The oversized parts had to be transported from the workshop and assembled inside the building.
Production step by step
- Breaking the 3D data down into individual parts
- Milling the negative mould
- Building 99 auxiliary moulds
- Hand-laminating the petals
- Finishing the surfaces
- Artistic painting
- Transport and on-site assembly
Result
- A single lotus flower made of five oversized petals, with joints that cannot be seen
- The first reference project of its kind on the Slovak market
- A one-off, unique artwork at oversized scale
- The installation deadline was met
When it was finished, colleagues watched the completed work leave the workshop with a touch of nostalgia. The project stayed in the memory of the whole plant.
Our people on the project
„This project stayed with me because it drew on every bit of working experience I have gathered in my life.“
„Fortune favours the prepared, and we were prepared and equipped with the technology to deliver this project by the date the client set.“
„We took part in the assembly too, and it was a joy to watch the petals come together into the finished form.“