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.
Animal Sculpture
Stainless Steel Mirror Dolphin
Stainless Steel Mirror Dolphin is a mirror polished stainless steel water feature built to order in our Shenzhen workshop.
Product Overview
What This Piece Is
Stainless Steel Mirror Dolphin is a mirror polished stainless steel water feature built to order in our Shenzhen workshop.
A water feature adds sound as well as sight, which is what makes a courtyard feel separated from the street beyond it.
Stainless steel is the workhorse of outdoor sculpture because it carries its own corrosion resistance instead of relying on a coating.
The minimum order is one piece, the size is set by your drawing rather than by a catalogue.
Stainless Steel Mirror Dolphin 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 water feature are set from your drawing, so it is proportioned to the space instead of being the nearest standard size.
- One water feature is a full order. A single project in gardens and courtyards does not have to wait for a container quantity.
- A water feature adds sound as well as sight, which is what makes a courtyard feel separated from the street beyond it.
- The crate is built around the finished geometry of this water feature, with foam contact on every mirror polished face.
- Because the stainless steel is worked and finished in the same building, one team owns the surface from the first cut to the last pass.
Application Scenarios
Where It Is Installed
Set on a lawn, in a planting bed or on a courtyard paving grid, on a concrete pad or a levelled base plate.
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.
Placed in a hotel lobby, on an arrival axis or beside a reception desk, where it is the first object a guest registers.
Placed in a living room, a corridor or a private garden, at a scale that suits a domestic ceiling height.
Who It Is For
The People Who Order This
- Landscape architects specifying a mirror polished water feature as the focal piece for gardens and courtyards
- Interior designers who need one water feature to carry a room rather than a wall of small decoration
- Property developers placing a stainless steel water feature in parks and public plazas to anchor an arrival point
- Hotel and hospitality groups adding a water feature to gardens and courtyards 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.
- Getting a water feature into gardens and courtyards is usually harder than the design assumed. Access is checked before the piece is built, not on delivery day.
- Off the shelf water features are never the size gardens and courtyards actually needs, so schemes end up compromised. Making this one to the drawing removes that compromise.
- Commissioning a single water feature usually means a studio price and a studio lead time. Factory fabrication of one piece keeps both in range.
Technical Features
How It Is Constructed
- Internal pipework, pump chamber and drainage detailed into the form rather than added afterwards
- 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
- Panel divisions set out from a developed flat pattern so the stainless steel meets without being forced
- Edges and arrises detailed for the contact a water feature gets in gardens and courtyards
Specifications
Recorded Specification
| Material | Stainless steel |
|---|---|
| Finish | Mirror polished |
| Form | Water Feature |
| Category | Animal Sculpture |
| Size | Made to your drawing |
| Minimum Order | 1 piece |
| Placement | Outdoor and indoor |
| Packing | Foam lined plywood crate built to the finished geometry |
| Origin | Shenzhen China |
Dimensions, weight and lead time for this water feature are confirmed with the quotation, because it is built to your drawing rather than to a animal sculpture catalogue size.
Materials
What It Is Made From
- Stainless steel
- Stainless or galvanised fixings sized for this water feature 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 water feature set from your drawing or from the dimensions of gardens and courtyards
- Finish changed between mirror, brushed and coloured coating on the same water feature
- Base detail changed between a flush plate, a plinth and a direct planting bed fixing
- The water feature split into transportable sections where access to gardens and courtyards is restricted
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 An imported gallery piece
A gallery water feature arrives as it is. Working direct with the workshop means the size, the mirror polish and the base for gardens and courtyards are decided before anything is cut.
Compared with A general metal fabricator
A fabricator can weld a water feature but rarely has the polishing capacity. On stainless steel the surface work is where the piece is won or lost.
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can this be made in a different size
Yes. Stainless Steel Mirror Dolphin 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.
What is the minimum order quantity
One piece. There is no container minimum, which is why single projects in gardens and courtyards are a normal part of the workload here.
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 water feature this size packed and shipped
A plywood crate is built around the finished geometry with foam on every mirror polished face. Large water features 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 gardens and courtyards a photograph of the space is often enough to start.
What is the lead time
Lead time depends on the size of the water feature, 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.