304 vs 316 Stainless Steel for Outdoor Sculpture
The grade decision costs little at the quotation stage and a great deal once a piece starts pitting. Here is how to make it properly.
Knowledge Centre
12 Guides on Material Finish and Installation
Material selection, finishing processes, foundations, water features, maintenance and shipping. Written from what goes wrong on real projects.
Material Guide
Process Guide
How a Mirror Polish on Stainless Steel Sculpture Is Actually Achieved
A flawless mirror finish is decided during welding and grinding, long before anyone reaches for a polishing mop.
Material Guide
Corten Steel Sculpture and How the Patina Really Behaves
What weathering steel does over its first years outdoors, what it does to the paving underneath, and what to detail at design stage.
Design Guide
How to Choose the Right Size for a Garden Sculpture
The single most common regret is a piece that is too small. Here is how to get the scale right before anything is fabricated.
Installation Guide
Foundations and Fixings for Outdoor Sculpture
The base plate and the anchor pattern cause more delays on site than anything else. They are also the easiest part to get right in advance.
Comparison Guide
Stainless Steel or Fiberglass Resin for a Large Figure
Two completely different routes to a large sculpture, each with a form language it suits and one it fights.
Process Guide
How a Custom Sculpture Is Made From Brief to Crate
Every stage of a commission, what can still change at each point, and what is locked once it passes.
Design Guide
Planning a Sculptural Water Feature
Water turns a sculpture into a system. Decide the effect, the grade and the plant room before the form is finalised.
Maintenance Guide
Caring for a Mirror Polished Stainless Steel Sculpture
Very little is needed, but the wrong product used once can undo a finish that took days to achieve.
Buying Guide
Packing Sectioning and Shipping Large Sculpture Overseas
More sculpture is damaged between the workshop and the site than in twenty years of service. Most of it is avoidable.
Material Guide
Titanium Gold PVD Coating on Stainless Steel Wall Decoration
Why the gold on these panels is a vacuum deposited coating rather than paint, and what that means in a working interior.
Buying Guide
Specifying a Sculpture for a Hotel Lobby
Lobby pieces have constraints that garden pieces do not: fixed ceilings, live operations and a delivery route through a finished building.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who writes these guides
Our own design and production team, from what actually causes problems on projects. They are written for specifiers who have to make the decision and then live with it.
Can I reuse this material in a specification
Yes. If you need something in a form you can paste into a specification or a tender document, ask and we will send it.
Is there a guide on a subject not covered here
Tell us what you need and we will answer it directly, and add it here if it is a question that comes up more than once.
Have a Question That Is Not Covered Here
Ask it directly. If it comes up more than once it ends up as a guide on this page.