Cloud 9
(A feeling of extreme happiness or euphoria)
Cloud 9 is sculptural lighting and water installation at the Highpoint Shopping Centre, Melbourne, Australia.
The installation is a visually stunning, refined and poetic piece. An expanse of anodised tubes form an undulating cloud, surrounding a cascading water feature. The observer experiences dappled light that filters through the moire of suspended tubes like the sun through a cloud. Perhaps the installation’s best measure of success are the intrigued shoppers, phones in hand, getting photos for their socials.
The installation covers 158 square meters of ceiling space. A modular cassette grid system provides suspension points for the tubes. The tubes feature an integrated clip to connect to cassette, the cassette allows access to the ceiling void behind if required.
During the design phases, Australia experienced it’s largest earthquake in 50 years. With seismic concerns at the front of everyone’s minds, the suspension system not only need to be easy to install but also more than sufficiently robust.
A few interesting figures:
* 26,000 individual tubes
* 6.5 tonnes of aluminium
* 158 sqm of ceiling coverage
* 2 separate teams of 4 workers each working around the clock.
* Completed 2 weeks ahead of schedule and under anticipated budget.
Special thanks to the excellent work from the services company.
