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Metalab was thrilled to once again collaborate with Houston artist Randy Twaddle to create this trio of benches for the top of the Centennial Mount at Houston’s Hermann Park. The three figures are based on a Fibonacci sequence, extracted and developed spatially as sinuous objects. Fabricated from solid pieces of Leuders limestone quarried in central Texas, they were cut using a five-axis computer numerically controlled (CNC) robot by our friends at AX5 Resources.
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February 11, 2015 by metalab
October 23, 2014 by metalab
We just completed another project with Randy Twaddle, Artist, with these three benches installed on the new mound constructed in Herman Park at the new Centenial Gardens designed by Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects. Based on a Fibonacci series with three figures extracted and developed spatially as sinuous objects. We worked with Escobedo Construction and their 5-axis OMAG robot to fabricate the benches from solid limestone. The stone is anchored into the flat work with a fabricated stainless steel pan embedded in the concrete with a consistent 3/4" reveal maintained over 9', the length of the largest monolith bench.
August 22, 2014 by metalab
Installation of the 3 benches at Herman Park with Randy Twaddle and Escobedo Construction. Congratulations to Escobedo for their Texas Society of Architects Artisan Award.
June 14, 2014 by metalab
We visited Escobedo Construction to view the first of three unique park benches. Designed with Randy Twaddle, artist, the benches are being cut on a 5-axis OMAG robot in Kyle, Texas. No two benches are the same and none of the exposed faces are planar. This entry into robotic fabrication is exciting for us after attending the Robots in Architecture conference recently and now having to opportunity to apply this technology to a permanent installation for a new feature on top of a landscape in the renovation of Herman Park in Houston. The benches are made out of Lueders Limestone in three sizes the largest of which will be monolithic, extending over 9' long and will weight over a ton. The smallest one has been milled and will be finished by hand at this point with some faces left with the toolpath marks. Each bench will have an inscription and the robot will engrave the text along the topological surface after the final round of finishing. The tooling diameters range from 16" down to 1/8" end mill bits.
