During the construction of the new KWMC (Knowle West Media Centre) in Bristol, the initiative was awarded Arts Council funding for the commissioning of art works in the building. One of those was to design and build a reception desk in the main entrance foyer.

 

Approached as artists to develop some ideas for this project, the initial scheme responded to the client brief for a secure desk which could be locked down at night out of hours. However the second, more open iteration was preferred. The curvy '2d into 3d' scheme, developed through physical and computer driven model-making, promoted people flow from the buildings entrance foyer around the desk to the upper levels of the building.

 

The desk is comprised of over 500 unique, individually numbered pieces which make up the 75 layers of CAD driven, CNC cut, birch faced plywood. The layers are interspersed with slices of clear acrylic sheet and hidden LED lighting behind. The split level desk is designed with integrated storage and cable apertures for computer provision. The accessible worktop is an inserted glass layer with etched pattern in the timber layer below.

 

Location:  

Knowle West, Bristol

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Status:      

RIBA Stage 6 Completion