Stage One

'Bridged' Folly

The most recent works of artist, Steve Messam, ‘These Passing Things’, is a series of follies scattered throughout Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal this summer.

‘These Passing Things is fantastical and bold, uncovering the story of the water garden, and revealing new perspective.’ – National Trust

The Brief: We were contracted by the artist and the National Trust to manufacture and install one of three bold commissions, ‘Bridged’. Designed to sit across the River Skell, close to the site of a lost iron bridge from the 18th century, the contemporary crimson spikes create an exciting route of passage for visitors of the site.

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Workshop: Our machine shop, metal shop, wood shop and scenic paint shop all had major involvement in this project. From the steel structure fabricated in our metal shop, with many parts lasered and cut in our machine shop, to our wood shop, where timber treads were crafted and our scenic paint shop, where a specialist non-slip grip coating was formulated using idenden, volcanic sand and enamel-based paint creating a weatherproof walking area for the bridge.

Install: We worked with multiple teams to bring the whole project together on site. As Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal is a protected National Trust site, that was at the time of install open to visitors, there were several important stages in the preparation and groundworks before we could deliver and install the structure. We acted as CDM Principal Contractors and ensured that all elements of the installation were CE marked and that the appropriate risk assessments were carried out. We worked with an external Crane company and our transport partners to navigate a fleet of vehicles, including a 45ton crane and 18ton trucks through narrow pathways to the site. Once all preparations were made, our team installed the piece within 6 days.

You can discover this innovative structure as well as Steve Messam’s other follies, ‘Drifted’ and ‘Spiked’ at Fountains Abbey until Autumn this year.