Tag Archives: The Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases

Hydrotherapy Pool Architectural Glazing

Working with David and Richard at Proto Glass Studios is always a delight. What they do is exemplary and they work hard to collaborate in achieving the very best outcome for the artwork and the artist.

My visit to their workshops near Pewsey in Wiltshire on Thursday last week was a catch up on progress after Christmas. I had made a visit previously to this before Christmas along with clients from ‘Art at the Heart’ at the RUH, which has still not been posted.

All the glass panels have now been printed & etched. They were then sent away for toughening – a heat process, where the glass is tempered in a furnace to temperatures close to 600 degrees C and then cooled rapidly. Following this process, the glass can be sandblasted with additional layers of detail. Once completed, the panels will finally be made into sealed units for delivery to site and installation.

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

The architectural glass screens total some 46sqm of glazing. However, the screens are made up of double sealed units – two panels of glass with a gap in-between. This has allowed us to apply decoration to both panes of glass within the same sealed unit. The panel above, for example is 2500mm x 1217mm x 10.8mm. This is the largest size. There are 18 apertures in the North and East screens combined – larger spaces below and smaller spaces above with a double sealed unit in each – so a total of 36 individual panels of glass have been decorated. 18 of this total have also been laminated to another clear pane of glass. Proto have prepared and decorated all of this glass. They have handled of these elements with great skill and care.

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

Weeding out the stencils following sandblasting.

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

Weeding-out stencils, cleaning and brushing away, following sandblasting of the ceramic colour screenprint.

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

 

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

Hydrotherapy Pool North Screen in production at Proto Studios

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping

Work is now in progress at the brilliant Proto Glass StudiosĀ on the first stage of screen printing ceramic colour for of the NORTH SCREEN. We are collaborating with Proto Studios, specialist Architectural Glass Decorators on the production of 46sqm of screen printed, sandblasted & etched architectural glass screens for the new Hydrotherapy Pool & Therapies Unit for the RUH and RNHRD in Bath commissioned by Art at the Heart. The artwork is presented as an abstracted landscape running over both the North & the East Screens of the Pool Room – a way of encapsulating all disparate elements that have inspired my work into something engaging for the viewer, which will changes throughout the day in response to levels of daylight and direct sun.

Both the RUH & RNHRD Hospital sites were originally set in, and adjacent to open fields and expansive views of countryside. Easy to imagine then how beneficial this must have been to those patients and staff who experienced this.

It is now commonly understood that exposure to natural spaces, planting and nature within medical and healing environments is of great benefit and assists in the recovery and positive experience of patients and staff alike .

This landscape is populated with recognisable motifs, such as flowers, deer and trees, woven together with abstracted forms and simple repeating patterns. Local landmarks such as Kelston Round Hill also feature, as do references to the architectural decoration and built heritage of The Min and its archaic Roman Mosaics. However, the most visible motif perhaps is water, and more explicitly, the gestural movement of water as shaped by those taking treatment in the Hydrotherapy Pool. A shape made in water informed by the movement of a hand or leg. Abstractions of steam or mist appear to hover in this landscape. Water is contained within a bowl or pool. An elegant but dynamic abstract splash of water drifts across the whole of the East Screen. The connection to hot springs and flowing waters has shaped Bath into the World Heritage Site we see today.

Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping
Production at Proto Studios. Image: Christopher Tipping