Droplet Pendulum

Bureau de Change created an installation inspired by Sto’s finishings and the industrial heritage of the Clerkenwell District in London, famous for watch and artificial flower making.

Bureau de Change, Droplet, Sto Wekstatt, London, 2016

Designed to subtly evolve over the period of its duration, Droplet is an installation by Bureau de Change that brings together the industrial heritage of Clerkenwell and Sto’s range of IQ facade finishes. The focus of the space is a three-dimensional surface made of 100 petal-like forms and 100 pendulums suspended in a grid layout, creating a field of vertical elements.

Bureau de Change, Droplet, Sto Werkstatt, London, 2016

The pendulums are a nod to the clock and watch making industry, which thrived in Clerkenwell from the beginning of the 18th century. Inspiration for the petal-like forms comes from flower making tools, which were used in Sto Werkstatt’s building between 1876-1932 when it housed an artificial flower making factory as part of the philanthropist John Groom’s mission to train impoverished and disabled women to craft artificial flowers.

Coloured liquid gently trickles down the wires of the pendulums suspended above, eventually dropping from the tips of the pendulums onto the petals below. Half the petals are coated in a facade finish whose patented micro-textured surface supports self-cleaning and guarantees active, moisture regulating weatherproofing where dirt runs off with the rain. In contrast, the other half is covered with is coated in conventional facade paint, creating layers of intense colour that recreates the dirt, algae and fungal growth many facades are hindered with.