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StoneSet Australia

Wilga Park Mandala in NSW

Wilga Park Mandala in NSW

Resin Bound Recycled Glass Paving

One of the pinnacle projects undertaken in StoneSet’s career and possibly the largest resin-bound crushed recycled glass paving project in the southern hemisphere!

Entitled “Flower, Sun, Moon, Head’” the 20m wide mosaic was paved using 10 different colours of recycled crushed glass, that been ‘tumbled’ so as to remove any sharp edges and make it safe for people to use as an exercise surface.

StoneSet’s expertise was called upon to execute this large and complex project by mixing rounded glass ‘pebbles’ with StoneSets advanced polyurethane resin. The mix was then ‘screeded’ or trowelled flat into sections formed by large wooden ‘puzzle’ stencil.

What is a Mandala?

Mandala (literally translated as ‘circle’) is a term given to a geometric configuration of symbols, in this case colourful shapes as a metaphysical representation of a lotus flower and the cosmos.

The ‘exercise’ mandala sculpture was completed as part of the ‘Wilga Park Upgrade‘, Shrimptons park public art strategy for City of Ryde (City Works & Infrastructure division) municipal council in Sydney, Australia.

Mandala demonstrates architectural form and function by reflecting the rising sun, thus amplifying a transcendental experience. This is especially fitting for more active members of the community, who practice early morning Yoga in the park as a ritual.

City of Ryde summarises the Mandala “A highlight of the upgrade is the installation of two eye-catching artworks named Mandala and Burst. Mandala is an elevated, circular area featuring a dynamic floor mosaic of vibrant colours, while Burst is intended to be an expression of movement and energy.”

Wilga Park offers a very modern experience for all, with state of the art amenities and free Wi-Fi offered as part of the park.

A complex Installation

The works for Wilga Park upgrade were completed by Civil Contractors Glascott Landscape and Civil. The design of public art sculptures were the brainchild of architectural designers Artscape. – born out of the Public Art Strategy prepared for Macquarie Park. The works were part of the larger Shrimpton’s creek precinct activation by Complete Urban.

The making of this project drew on every ounce of StoneSets’ expertise installing coloured paving – from the attention to detail of our experienced site foreman, to the resin technology StoneSet applies in its advanced resin bound paving system.

The images below demonstrate just how complex it was to “piece the puzzle” together. Working from a complex two dimensional design, each coloured section of the paving needed to be formed by a machined MDF timber stencil. Far from childs’ play, the puzzle arrived on pallets on the back of a truck and had to be pieced together methodically by the install team.

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The original Layout for the timber stencil that was piece together to form the coloured sections of the paving
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An example of the scale of the 12m mosaic, showing an A4 piece of paper
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Getting started laying out the stencil
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The Centre of Mandala, showing even small pieces of timber were cut in sections.
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An example of the challenges. Using disposable MDF, the stencil tended to lift at the edges, especially as it dried in the sun. Our experienced foreman was able to work on the fly to resolve the potential disruption.

 

Once the stencil had been layed into place, StoneSet needed to allow for a small gap between each piece and nail these into position once the correct placement had been confirmed.

Being 12m wide, there were often 20 pieces of stencil that had to be aligned perfectly from one side of the circle to the other. The fact there was 5mm gap between each, meant placement had to be perfect – even being millimeters risked causing the circle to look more like an egg, as may gaps meant mistakes could amplify across this very wide area.

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Some of the scenic sun shots that show the aspect of the park, open to sunlight even in a densley populated area like Ryde.

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Polyurethane is the glue that binds the crushed glass ‘pebbles’ together. Here it is being mixed with Green glass in a wheelbarrow lined with black plastic.
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Some of the colour pastel buckets.. Just like the Colour Kittens.. buckets and buckets and buckets of colours
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Some of the large scale works going on at the park
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We love the smell of Polyurethane in the Morning!!

Porous and Practical

Soft fall rubber is product used in children’s playgrounds and a practical solution for creating a soft and durable paving surface for these types of applications.

Tumbled glass was used in this situation for a number of reasons – Glass has a longer life span under constant UV exposure and looks more brilliant when reflecting the morning Suns Rays. This was a design factor taken into account when considering the paving alternatives.

Resin bound glass was also chosen for the water porous nature of the paving – Rather than being a sold body, the voids between the glass made it porous to water so the area would not see puddles form after rain.

This made the surface quicker to dry in the mornings, even when there was only dew, making it immediately usable for early morning Yoga sessions and other health and well being activities that occur very early on in the morning.

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Why Coloured Glass and not rubber?

The use of crushed glass for decorative paving applications is not particularly cutting-edge in its own right. Companies across Australia (and the world) install crushed recycled glass paving regularly, for a number of product applications.

One of glass’ product advantages is its obvious vibrance of colour. This makes glass paving ideal for safety applications, such as clearly defining cycleways, line markings and high visibility logos to improve universal access.

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Resin bound crushed glass paving is ideal to improve visibility, especially to improve universal access
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Glass incorporated with Stone on this project on the ‘Huskisson trail’ in Jervis Bay added a water colour to the council footpath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another key strength of glass paving is longevity and durability. Lower cost solutions in colour paving are attained by incorporating pigments and dies. Fading of colour can often occur with synthetic products such as stamped concrete, coloured coats and sealers.

For this reason glass is often incorporated on Kitchen benches to add sparkle and much like granite, be hard and durable. ‘Bonded’ Glass pebbles are also incorporated into relining in-ground pools, which add a significant colour tinge to the water. Products such as Jewels for Pools use a similar rounded or ‘tumbled’ glass pebble incorporated with cement screed to rejuvenate the old tiled pools.

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Images of crushed glass incorporated into Bench tops – Google images
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Glass was used to represent this school logo with durable vibrance given it was on the main driveway entrances to the reception area.
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Blue glass was used at this school in Queensland to clearly mark out tennis ball courts

 

 

 

 

 

 

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StoneSet used blue and white glass to create very clever, a fully porous ‘drain’ logo for Shoalhaven NSW council at the bottom of this public water fountain.
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The Jellybean Pathway – A Childrens Playground paved with glass in Nowra, NSW
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This Children’s Play Park in Coffs Harbour saw StoneSet install an animated ocean scene using decorative resin bound glass
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The process of crushed recycled and tumbled glass being spread into position on the JellyBean pathway in Nowra.

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