DML Group has completed work on a unique £140,000 artwork project at An t-Eilean (The Island) in Inverness.
The company, which was appointed by leading construction and infrastructure business Morgan Sindall - the main contractor for the Inverness Campus scheme where the artwork is featured, is providing bronze cladding, doors and balustrades for a walled pavilion garden, which is accessed by a 46m walkway over a new lake in the centre of the Campus.
Developed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Inverness Campus is a multi-stakeholder 215-acre business, research and education facility. It is one of Europe’s most ambitious locations for business and the most ambitious project in the Highlands for a generation.
An t-Eilean was designed to respond to the special context of the Inverness Campus site and to elements of the regional Highland landscape that exists beyond the site’s boundaries. It will be a facility for everyone in the community to use for events and performance as well as a unique meeting place.
Lisa Mackenzie, the landscape architect for the Highlands and Islands Enterprise’ scheme, chose to work with bronze as a contrast to the stark white concrete walls. She says that as a material it brings warmth and will weather and mature slowly as well as offering a contrast to the materials around it.
Commenting on DML’s appointment, she said: “I identified DML having seen their work elsewhere and it influenced my thinking about An t-Eilean. They have an unparalleled attention to detail and strove at every stage in the development of the project to understand and respond to the design intent.”
Chris Murray, sales and marketing director, DML Group, said: “This project is particularly interesting not just because of its nature and location but in the materials and design. It is also very rewarding for DML to have been chosen for the scheme based on the high standard of our workmanship.”
The DML Group has two divisions: Drawn Metal, which provides bespoke metalwork and shopfronts and whose clients include some of the world’s leading brands; and DML Architectural Systems, which specialises in external aluminium façades, cladding, windows, unitised and curtain walling and is a preferred supplier for several of the UK’s largest main contractors.
The company offers a total capability façade solution from design and build to bespoke entrances, whether clients are seeking a specialised ‘one-off’ requirement or a comprehensive, conception-to-completion, full turn-key provision.