Prize(s) Honorable Mentions
Company Duncan Meerding
Lead Designers Duncan Meerding
Client Private client
Photo Credits Chris Crerar
Completion Date June 2022
Project Location Tasmania, Australia
Entry DescriptionPropeller Bloom, a 1500mm wide show stopping feature piece is the latest addition to the Propeller Light range. The light commands presence and is designed and destined to occupy high ceilinged rooms and architectural void spaces. 8 petal-inspired Tasmanian Eucalypt blades slot into a custom made black anodised aluminium central disk, gently curving out and down around a single central bulb, with a large hand-turned blackwood nose cone completing the Propellor Bloom.
This feature light was made in response to a client’s brief; they liked the Propeller Pendant light form and light effect; both the open (500 mm diameter) and the Propeller Blossom (830 mm diameter) but they wanted a bigger light with more presence to fit within a large architectural space. The challenge was to maintain the lightness in form and the independent structure, where each blade only connects into the central disk and not to one another.
The original Propellor, a union of a propellor and a flower, came about through experimentation with plywood modelling, and orienting the grain in a certain way created the form that is found throughout the Propellor range.
Sustainability ApproachThe Propeller Bloom 1500 light was designed with sustainability at its core, literally. The central disk which the light is designed around enables the item to flat-pack, lessening the environmental impact of shipping. The design has been created to stand the test of time both metaphorically and physically, not being designed around a trend and being designed and made utilizing robustness to give the item longevity. The glues used for creating the custom petal laminates are a bi- product of diesel manufacture. The majority of Propeller Bloom 1500 manufacture has taken place in our in house studio / workshop, but where it is outsourced it is done to local small manufacturing business'. By having local manufacturing, it cuts down on shipping carbon footprint but also means we know the working conditions of the people making the items.
