Turntables create changing landscape effect

British Turntable has designed and installed three identical turntables for an art exhibit, each planted with a single tree so that, when rotated, a constantly changing landscape is created.

When it came to finding the movement for the Arbores Laetae (Joyful Trees) art exhibit, the Liverpool Biennial turned to British Turntable to add the desired effect to Diller Scofidio and Renfro's unusual creation.

The project was said to have demanding requirements in terms of health and safety, durability and reliability.

British Turntable was asked to design and install, within tight deadlines, three turntables.

To achieve the desired effect, 1m2 plant pots were offset to one side of the turntable platform, and each turntable set to a different speed, ensuring that the trees rarely, if ever, appeared in the same configuration during operation.

Each pot was secured to restraints against the action of the wind and, to counter potential wind effects and other adverse weather conditions, the turntables were built with a capacity of 15 tonnes and weather proofed.

The revolves, each of which was equipped with a 3.8m diameter platform and driven by a 3.3kW motor, were then sunk into 2.5m pits for further stability and connected to a common timer switch to control times of operation.

Main contractors on the Arbores Laetae were Cheetham Hill Construction, with design and project management from Arup Liverpool.

Back to top