Watergardens Food Court’s Aluminium Ceiling

Go with the flow

The ceiling installations are transformative from day to night, providing light and shadow and a gradually changing density, moving in harmony with its surroundings. Natural light filters through the sheaths of metal with its perforations adding further texture and interest. This subtle natural light is celebrated throughout the food court’s urban landscape. 

The colour palette of the space creates a sense of destination and arrival, strengthened by the monochromatic overlay overhead. The design consists of three different blade shapes, strategically placed side by side to create a stunning flowing wave formation across the ceiling.

The metal blades were manufactured to have circular perforations throughout them, from large to small, gradually changing in size down the piece of metal blade. These perforations were flipped on various blades to provide texture and difference across the design.

Bringing it all together

Sculptform were thrilled to partner with CoLAB Design Studio to help bring their impressive, yet ambitious, ceiling design to life with a custom design solution.

After working with them on a few previous projects we were familiar with their style and design processes. CoLab came to us with images and a brief. We were provided with early concept material, displaying to us the narrative of what they wanted to achieve with the food court upgrade. The colour palette for the design incorporated urban tones of the Australian outback, with rich and lighter tones apparent. 

Lots and lots of experimentation of different fin shapes, perforation patterns and colours were all tested, as well as the all-important mounting method. It was easier to judge which direction to go with the prototypes installed on the ceiling with light filtering through, so the final calls were made when they were hanging in their ‘natural habitat’.

The successful mounting method was completely custom and included making modules on the ground and lifting them up to install on the ceiling, with many smaller modules making up full modules. This method was devised via prototyping in our studio and then onsite.