Special Projects
Alec and Fiona have designed and made many specialised projects. They have a long experience of collaborating with Architects, public institutions and individuals in working up and producing exciting solutions. Every commission is thoughtfully designed, hand drawn and made with attention to the individual requirements of the situation.
Highgate School
Alec and Fiona have a long partnership with Highgate school, London, and have created artworks and commemorative plaques throughout the school's buildings over the last 10 years.
Initially Alec and Fiona were asked to design and carve four stone gargoyle heads for the new Senior school building façade, and produce decorative metal screens for the windows and main entrance doors.
Fiona and Alec decided to use the school's original Elizabethan charter document as a basis for their concept, which they found while conducting research in the school archives.
Their contemporary designs entwine ancient calligraphy with new letterforms to create a palimpsest. These designs were laser cut from steel sheets and permanently enclosed within the window glazing. The school children chose to name their new building 'The Charter Building' in response to the artwork.
When the school embarked on building a new junior school a few years later, Alec and Fiona were invited to create a carved title and a series of integral sculptures. Alec carved an inspirational quotation from the writings of Sir David Attenborough directly into the Portland stone foyer wall, surrounded by natural fossil-filled Roach stone and wall carvings. Utilising the Fibonacci principal as a theme, Fiona and Alec made further sculptures of unusual and wondrous creatures from the natural world. These are cast in bronze and carved into the stonework, laying a trail of discovery for visitors young and not-so-young!
These sculptures are to encourage generations of school children to not only wonder at the rich knowledge of the natural world, but to also ponder their responsibilities towards the future of Nature itself. The half-metre high main title lettering was carved in the artists' studio and brought to site for installation. Quotations from Albert Einstein were carved into the stone steps of the literary garden by Alec. Specially designed entrance gates and murals for the music department were designed by Fiona to complete the scheme. Fiona and Alec won the RIBA London award for their work at Highgate School.