A shiny circular outdoor sculpture, Cloven Torus, stands on bright green grass. An organic tear—a fissure in the perfectly mirrored surface—reveals a jagged crack, reflecting trees, a house, and benches in a lush garden framed by tall plants and an iron fence.

A close-up of a shiny, abstract black sculpture with smooth, wavy edges. A cloven torus forms an organic tear to the fabric of the piece—a fissure in the perfectly mirrored surface reflecting blue sky and trees against blurred green foliage.

A close-up of a modern outdoor sculpture, inspired by Corbusier, features stacked cubes and rectangles with shiny, reflective metal surfaces framed by bright blue borders. The mirror-polished steel reflects the green garden and surrounding foliage.

Large eye of illumination sculpture with black powder-coated paint, set before a brick wall and lush greenery.

Kindred Spirits

A chance encounter with this client at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show felt, for David, like a meeting of kindred spirits. A shared passion for aesthetics and a recognition of the importance of playfulness in creative projects led to a plethora of wonderful bespoke creations for this garden in Kingston Upon Thames, England.

As with any bespoke project, it is helpful to walk around the space with the client to establish the mood and atmosphere, and to learn what aesthetic a client may be drawn to, be it whimsical, elegant, tranquil, organic, defiant, or discreet.

Here, the clients’ astonishing gardens – formal and classical in their mood and layout – had multiple ‘rooms’, several with stunning vistas in need of a focal point to draw the eye. We relished the opportunity to create four new unique pieces.

Design details

Cloven Torus

The design brief was to create a large physical presence that could act as a focal point to draw the eye to the dark woodland area beyond the lawn. Cloven Torus was ideal for this location. David and the client experimented with enhancing the sculpture’s quirky, unexpected characteristics, which eventually led us to add an organic tear to the fabric of the piece – a fissure in the perfectly mirrored surface.

“I loved the idea that the house would be reflected in the piece and that at nighttime all the windows would equally be mirrored in the sculpture.” – David Harber

Eye of Illumination

We played with the idea of turning the idea of creating ‘a good first impression’ on its head with a dramatic, highly adapted iteration of our turbine sculpture. The Eye of Illumination is a bold and defiant piece softened with organic waving and undulating fins to draw the viewer’s eye and create a playful sense of texture, tone and reflection. We chose a dramatic black powder-coated paint finish for maximum impact.

Corbusier

Corbusier was inspired by a geometric pathway and positioned near a brick gateway which separated a formal part of the garden with a more natural, wild space. A series of stacked cubes and rectangles echo the existing pathway but reflect the green of the garden within the mirror-polished stainless steel.