Heritage Engineering for an

Iconic Hotel

In 2022 I was commissioned by Artlink to create two sculptural installations as part of a huge project installing bespoke artwork in the luxury hotel Raffles Doha, situated in the iconic Katara Towers Lusail.

I have only recently received some images of the artwork "in situ" - the Dyptich in the Royal Suite - it is very exciting to see it in the space it was made for.

I don't yet have images of the large mirror steel Shamsa, which is installed in the Owner's Lounge. The entire hotel is a fairytale luxury utopia, occupying one of the 'horns' of Katara Towers.

Below are some of my production photos, working with Garcross, my favourite family firm of metal fabricators and engineers situated in Leeds. The collaborative process of producing this artwork was a real pleasure for me, - I felt proud to be able to work with a  British Heritage firm.

SHAMSA comes from an Arabic word meaning the Sun. It is the name given to a circular device in Islamic art, often part of the designs of carpets, architecture, and illuminated books. The Shamsas in this installation were were first shown at The Brunei Gallery, SOAS in 2009  as part of a solo exhibition, "Geometry, Illumination, and Beyond".

I built the design over an octagonal geometric structure, using a classic grammar of elements. They were manufactured using 3mm. steel by a British engineering company, using water-jet cutting technology.  The Shamsas measure 100 cm. diameter and weigh 11 kg. The wall- mounted Shamsa is fabricated from mirror-steel, those suspended are powder-coated matt white.