Thank You to Our Sponsors
QDE Ltd acted as the PSCS main contractor to deliver Corten Public Artwork at 3 roundabouts in Bundoran, Co Donegal.
The Story
Local Artist Kevin Callaghan was awarded the contract by Donegal County Council to install 3 public artworks at Bundoran. Kevin's concept envisioned using Corten weathering steel to portray a Windsail, Oars and Surfboards. In keeping Bundorans rich history with surfing and watersports. The rustic finish of Corten in keeping with the Wild Atlantic Way theme.
Kevin appointed QDE as PSCS for the complete project.
From 3D concept renders the artists vision was brought to life in house by QDE draughtsman.
A QDE appointed Engineer carried out windload calculations to verify the design.
A labor intensive fabrication process was carried out in our Donegal workshop, with extreme attention to detail.
The finished artworks were sandblasted to ensure the formation of an even patina.
Concurrent to the fabrication process QDE were coordinating design and install of foundations.
All aspects of installation were coordinated by QDE including, traffic management & lifting operations.
The weeks following the installation saw the formation of a vibrant, orange patina.
Why It Should Win
Balancing the artists expectation to keep the pieces looking exactly as per the renders against the limitations of the material was one of the biggest challenges of this project.
The Windsail which is 6.3m tall lends its rigidity to a skeleton like subframe hidden beneath the leaf pattern.
This was incorporated to ensure the piece can withstand the imposed windload whilst remaining slim-line as per the artists preference.
The pieces are designed to channel rain water run off internally. This prevents staining and formation of uneven patina on the outside surface, a small detail often over looked.
Other factors such as installation constraints, transport, weight, availability of material also had to be considered at design stage.
We think it deserves and award because it show cases QDE's experience and skill as fabricators and problem solvers.
We are proud to have fabricated installed these Artworks at one of the main gateways to Donegal.
Alan Quinn
Director
Quinn Design Engineering
Project Details
Qde
Bundoran, Donegal
#0016
2024 Awards
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2024 Irish Steel Awards Runner Up
Congratulations to Qde for being named Runner Up at the Irish Steel Awards!