Ramboll engineers new Unilever Series installation at Tate Modern, Ramboll

Release Date: 2009-10-23

Following on from the company's engineering appointment to transform Britain's national museum of international modern art, Tate Modern, Ramboll was working on all the large-scale art installations in the Tate's Turbine Hall that combine esthetic expressiveness and an engineering genius. The latest is the tenth commission in the Unilever Series, recently unveiled to the public.

The new installation, 'How it is' by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka, consists of an impressively large dark void created using a structural steel frame that measures 30m long, 10m wide and 13m high. It is supported on 2m high columns and has internal steel plate cladding finished in soft black flock to achieve the 'blacked out' internal effect. The southern end of the 'box' is open like a draw-bridge, providing the public with a ramp to walk up to enter the space.

Ensuring minimal disruption during assembly: in order not to detract attention from the viewer experience in the box, the steel frame is of a very simple and slender modular construction, fabricated and pre-assembled into 2.5m wide panels before arrival on site. The floor, roof and wall panels were connected on site using mechanical fixings to avoid the need for on-site welding. This reduced the installation time and the level of disruption during gallery opening hours.

The fabrication work was carried out by Littlehampton Welding. Their experience with this scale of structure combined with our engineering expertise has produced a robust elegant structural form. The piece has received fantastic reviews from the press and the customer has stated that this is one of the best to date!

The Balka installation is on show at the Tate Modern until 5 April 2010.

Type:	NORMAL
Company:	Ramboll
Country:	Denmark