The brief was set out by the client, Hospital Art Studio, to create an Organ Donation Wall Sculpture at The Bradford Royal Infirmary. The tree was designed by the client and was based on a poem written by Karen Van de Bospoort. The hospital wanted this artwork to be an uplifting memorial to organ donors. We had the task of bringing the design to life in a unique, high-end way. Had this been a basic printed graphic, it would not have had the same impact as the finished product.

The entire sculpture stood at 8 meters tall, but even at this size, the whole piece included intrinsic detail. The overall design has an aged copper print effect on the face to depict an autumn feel. Each individual bird was laser cut from brushed aluminium composite with a varnish finish and mounted to the wall on stand-off fixings to give an element of depth. We chose this finish as it enabled the birds to shimmer in various lights throughout the day. Our CNC machine was able to cut to exceptional detail which was integral for this design.

We created the tree the same way to give it a high-end, almost sculptural, feel to the overall project. We used full-colour digital print to the face of brushed ACM, to create an aged copper finish. In addition to the birds on the tree, we incorporated birds flying around it. These had a Verdigris finish and were studded separately from the main sculpture.

We finalised the entire piece with a gloss lacquer finish. Above the tree, the lettering ‘the gift of life’ was fitted with spacers to create a focal point. We also ensured that any fixings needed to mount the sculpture were carefully hidden so they did not interfere with the overall design. The process was time-consuming and detailed, making the project special.