Bespoke light installation for a building lobby refurbishment in Cardiff

The light installation is called Simorg (birds in flight) and is designed to reflect its surroundings and be a recognisable icon in the city. The Simorg is known as a benevolent, mythical bird in Persian mythology and often associated with the Phoenix. The Simorg was most famously described in one of our client’s favourite books, ‘The Conference of the Birds’. The cloud effect is created using parametric digital design tools. The components vary in size and were fabricated in solid cast aluminium from bespoke moulds.

The light installation features 1720 brass finish components suspended via 290 fibre-optic cables. It is 6.3m high, each cable varies in length and carries 6 components. Assembling the top base of the installation on site required a bespoke scaffolding structure to be erected where 3D points were templated physically to finalise location. The base parts came pre-assembled with computer generated grid of fibre-optic cables. Mirror finish steel round plate at the top creates a further optical illusion as if the ‘birds’ continue to infinity.

Design: ALEKSA studio in collaboration with Design Haus Liberty
Client: Naissance Capital Real Estate
Location: Cardiff
Dates: 2019

Photographs by Nicholas Worley