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.
Abstract Sculpture
Modern Stainless Steel Infinity Sculpture
Modern Stainless Steel Infinity Sculpture is a mirror polished stainless steel abstract form built to order in our Shenzhen workshop.
Product Overview
What This Piece Is
Modern Stainless Steel Infinity Sculpture is a mirror polished stainless steel abstract form built to order in our Shenzhen workshop.
An abstract form carries no fixed subject, so it reads as architecture rather than decoration and dates far more slowly.
Stainless steel is the workhorse of outdoor sculpture because it carries its own corrosion resistance instead of relying on a coating.
The size is set by your drawing rather than by a catalogue, a sketch, a render or a dimensioned drawing is enough to start a quotation.
Modern Stainless Steel Infinity Sculpture produced by Xinhengda Sculpture in Shenzhen
Key Benefits
Why Buyers Specify This Piece
- Fabricated in stainless steel, so the surface you approve is the surface that stays, with no paint film to fail.
- The mirror polished surface picks up sky, planting and passing people, so the piece changes through the day instead of reading as one fixed object.
- Height, width and base detail for this abstract form are set from your drawing, so it is proportioned to the space instead of being the nearest standard size.
- An abstract form carries no fixed subject, so it reads as architecture rather than decoration and dates far more slowly.
- Anything about this abstract form that has to change for parks and public plazas is settled on the drawing, where changes still cost nothing.
- Fixing points and the anchor pattern for this abstract form are drawn before fabrication, so site work is bolt down rather than improvisation.
Application Scenarios
Where It Is Installed
Installed in a park, on a plaza or at a landscape entrance, where the piece has to survive public contact and read from a distance.
Who It Is For
The People Who Order This
- Facility and estate managers replacing a tired feature in parks and public plazas with something that needs no repainting
- Landscape architects specifying a mirror polished abstract form as the focal piece for parks and public plazas
- Property developers placing a stainless steel abstract form in parks and public plazas to anchor an arrival point
- Hotel and hospitality groups adding a abstract form to parks and public plazas without closing the space for a refurbishment
Problems It Solves
What This Piece Removes From the Project
- Coated sculptures fade and flake where sun and rain hit hardest. Stainless steel removes that maintenance line from the budget.
- A poorly polished mirror surface shows the weld lines and a wavy reflection. Grinding the seams flat before polishing is what removes both.
- Commissioning a single abstract form usually means a studio price and a studio lead time. Factory fabrication of one piece keeps both in range.
- Large abstract forms are often quoted without the base, the fixings or the crate, and the budget moves after the order. Those are quoted up front here.
- Freight damage to a mirror polished surface is the most common way a abstract form project goes wrong. The crate is built around the geometry rather than bought as a standard box.
Technical Features
How It Is Constructed
- Continuous developed surface with the panel divisions placed where they follow the form
- Mirror polished by hand through successive grits until the reflection is undistorted across the whole surface
- Fabricated throughout in stainless steel with matching filler where the material is welded
- Internal frame sized to this abstract form rather than taken from a standard section list
- Base plate and anchor pattern for the abstract form issued as a drawing before the foundation is poured
Specifications
Recorded Specification
| Material | Stainless steel |
|---|---|
| Finish | Mirror polished |
| Form | Abstract Form |
| Category | Abstract Sculpture |
| Size | Made to your drawing |
| Minimum Order | Quoted per project |
| Placement | Outdoor |
| Packing | Foam lined plywood crate built to the finished geometry |
| Origin | Shenzhen China |
Dimensions, weight and lead time for this abstract form are confirmed with the quotation, because it is built to your drawing rather than to a abstract sculpture catalogue size.
Materials
What It Is Made From
- Stainless steel
- Stainless or galvanised fixings sized for this abstract form and supplied with it
Manufacturing Process
How It Is Made
1
Cutting the sheet to the developed pattern
2
Forming and rolling each panel
3
Welding the panels into the finished form
4
Grinding and levelling the seams
5
Polishing or texturing to the specified finish
6
Cleaning and passivation before packing
Quality Control
What Is Checked and When
- Material checked against the order before cutting
- Seams inspected after grinding
- Surface reviewed under raking light
- Base plate and fixing points checked to the drawing
- Workshop trial assembly before crating
Customisation Options
What Can Be Changed
- Overall height, width and depth of the abstract form set from your drawing or from the dimensions of parks and public plazas
- Design developed from your sketch, render or reference photograph
- Your own branding applied to the abstract form for resale as OEM or ODM work
- The stainless steel grade stepped up where the piece is going within reach of salt or treated water
- Proportions adjusted so the abstract form reads correctly from the approach distance in parks and public plazas
Comparison
How It Compares With the Alternatives
Compared with Cast stone or GRC
Cast stone reads heavy and chips on the edges. Stainless steel gives a thinner profile, a cleaner line and a surface that survives handling.
Compared with A general metal fabricator
A fabricator can weld a abstract form but rarely has the polishing capacity. On stainless steel the surface work is where the piece is won or lost.
Compared with A rented or temporary installation
Rental suits an event. For a permanent position in parks and public plazas the cost of two or three rentals already covers a abstract form that stays.
Use Guide
Looking After It Once It Is Installed
- Rinse with clean water and dry with a soft cloth
- Neutral detergent for marks and fingerprints
- Keep iron filings and construction dust off the surface
- No abrasive pads on finished faces
- Fingerprints show on a mirror surface. A neutral detergent wash and a dry microfibre cloth is all it takes.
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Guides That Apply To This Piece
Design Guide
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can this be made in a different size
Yes. Modern Stainless Steel Infinity Sculpture is made to order, so the height and width are set from your drawing or from the dimensions of the space. Send the position and the height you have in mind and the quotation follows those figures.
Why stainless steel rather than something cheaper
Stainless steel is the workhorse of outdoor sculpture because it carries its own corrosion resistance instead of relying on a coating. Coated sculptures fade and flake where sun and rain hit hardest. Stainless steel removes that maintenance line from the budget.
Will the mirror finish show the welds
Not if the seams are ground level before polishing starts. Every weld on a mirror piece is dressed flat first, which is why the reflection stays undistorted across the joint.
How is a abstract form this size packed and shipped
A plywood crate is built around the finished geometry with foam on every mirror polished face. Large abstract forms are split into sections at joints chosen during design, trial assembled in the workshop, then marked so they go back together in the same order on site.
What do you need from me to quote
The position, the height or overall size you want, and any drawing, render or reference photograph you already have. For parks and public plazas a photograph of the space is often enough to start.
What is the lead time
Lead time depends on the size of the abstract form, the mirror polish and how much design work it needs, so it is confirmed with the quotation rather than promised in advance. Send the brief and the schedule comes back with the price.
Quote This Piece for Your Project
Send the position, the height you want and any drawing you have. The quotation comes back against your figures, not against a catalogue size.