LONDON – The Itsu Japanese restaurant chain, co-owned by the founder of Pret A Manger, was looking for visual enhancement to their Heathrow Terminal 5 outlet with an illuminated sculpture incorporating the restaurant's butterfly motif. Itsu worked with Cinimod Studio, which, in turn, commissioned aluminum structures specialists Litestructures, part of the Prolyte Group, for an animated sculpture that go above and beyond what the chain had already achieved near several of its London locations.
The finished structure is a floating, twisting sculptural form designed to attract the eye from within the cavernous Terminal 5 building.
Prolyte's Litestructures creative team worked with the brief that called for the design and fabrication of a modular yet organic single tube spine. When assembled, the three-dimensionally curving tube is attached to custom brackets supporting 45 sets of butterfly wings.
To illuminate the wings, an electricity supply runs through the 3-inch tubing to each of the brackets to which the wings are connected. Cinimod added the light-emitting polycarbonate wings and incorporated a custom lighting system to complete the design.
A pre-build at Prolyte's facility in West Yorkshire ensured the structure could be assembled and installed on site in the tight two day timeframe designated. The three-dimensional sculpture, Butterfly in Flight, can be seen mounted six meters above the kiosk below.
Litestructures' participation in this project marks their fifth contribution to Heathrow's T5. Other assignments included a request by the British Airports Authority to provide retractable access and maintenance gantries for the terminal's opening. The company also devised a new stand for the Best of the Best super-car competition, produced custom illuminated towers for HSBC and, more recently, delivered a brand experience structure to promote Sony's range of 3D TVs.
For more information, please visit www.prolyte.com and www.litestructures.co.uk.
Images courtesy of Cinimod Studio.
