A large bespoke torus sculpture with an open centre and a web of criss-crossed rods sits on grass. The sun rises through the centre, casting a warm glow, with trees, water, and mist in the background.

Ortus

Latin for ‘sunrise’, Ortus captures the exact moment of sunrise every day of the year at a special place on a private island off the south coast of England. A striking 3.25–metre iris of verdigris copper and mirror-polished stainless steel, this unique commission pivots on a compass plate to realign with the rising sun each morning.

Design details

An Ortus verdigris copper abstract sculpture frames the sun setting over water with greenery in the foreground.

To perfectly frame the rising sun and reflect the rugged landscape of the island, we customised our iconic Torus sculpture. We replaced the smooth, reflective surface with a briar-like kaleidoscope of irregular verdigris copper pipe, suspended within a marine-grade stainless-steel ring.

To capture the exact moment of the sunrise every morning, we set Ortus on a compass plate. This allows for the piece to be accurately realigned to the precise point on the horizon where the sun will rise the next day.