When the Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club in Bermuda commissioned Julian Opie to design a 13m long installation for its marina, Opie enlisted StoneCircle to bring his vision to life, having previously worked with them on his installation at CitizenM, Tower of London.
The artwork comprises a frieze featuring his signature stylised figures in patinated bronze inlaid into Antalya Cream limestone.
The figures were 5mm thick and are inlaid flush with the surface of the limestone blocks. They were cut out on StoneCircle’s waterjet cutter and patinated in the Basingstoke factory. The limestone was cut, and the bronze glued in before shipping. Each panel was bonded to lightweight honeycomb for strength and to reduce weight, notwithstanding this the biggest panels weighed 230kg.
The finished panels were loaded into a bespoke crate and shipped by sea freight to Bermuda. Barry Woodley and Steve Vanhinsbergh then flew out to Bermuda to install them in five days before returning to the UK.
