VIRGIN HAND

When we were first commissioned by Speed Communications and The Game Changer to design and install this giant hand for Virgin Media Business we had 2 principal elements to sign off. The first was aesthetic; to appear in scale from street level while also creating an optical illusion of additional height we stretched the proportions of the hand, particularly the fingers. The second issue was structural; The installation site was above Canary Wharf tube station, so had a strict 11 tonne weight limit. The ballast required to keep the hand structurally secure was 9 tonnes, this meant we could only have smaller vehicles on site. The solution was to make our own 250kg counter weights in concrete so the could be manually handled in to position.

01

Phase one

• Creative sketch

• 3D visual

• Final visual

These drawings show the progression from initial creative sketch to a signed off visual approved by our client for production. With intelligent interpretation this process can be quick and if carried out effectively can enthuse both client and production team. An injection of energy into a project at this early stage always provides a positive start to a project.

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phase two

• Maquette

• Internal frame

• Poly sculpture

On a project like this where scale and proportion are so crucial we produce a maquette or scale model of the proposed sculpture. This allows the client and production team to appreciate how the final project will look. When the sculpture was complete we cut it in half to insert a bespoke steel fame, we then reassembles the polystyrene around the steel.

03

phase three

• First top coat

• Top paint coat

• Installed hand

When steel frame and sculpture are unified, a layer of fibreglass and jesmonite are applied, before hand finishing and spray painting with colour matched brand colours. The final installation took place over night at Canary Wharf, 8m tall x 16 m wide branded panels provided the perfect back drop and provided a logical context for this unusual installation.