Two-material tool design
Silicone inserts set into a polyurethane surround, one for each emblem face. The main bollard shape in polyurethane; the emblems in silicone.
Project record · Public realm bespoke
A public realm project's bespoke bollard mould.
A bespoke bollard for a city public realm scheme with a cast-in civic emblem on two faces. Silicone tooling to hold the emblem sharp across the visible run.
The brief
The brief in one paragraph.
A city public realm scheme needed a bespoke bollard designed by the scheme's landscape architect. The bollard carried the local authority's emblem cast into two opposite faces, at eye level for anyone standing next to it. Around 80 bollards were required across the scheme.
The problem
The problem was holding the emblem sharp under close-viewing conditions.
A bollard is one of the most closely-inspected pieces of concrete in a public space. People walk past it, lean on it, take photographs of it. The civic emblem cast into its face has to be as crisp on bollard 80 as on bollard 1 — any drift is visible to a member of the public standing 30cm away.
That ruled out polyurethane on the emblem detail. It didn't rule out polyurethane on the rest of the bollard, but the emblem itself needed silicone.
How we solved it
How we approached it.
Pattern from the architect's artwork
Master pattern cut from the architect's supplied emblem artwork. Sample cast reviewed against the artwork at 1:1 for detail fidelity.
Production tooling
Full production tool with matched silicone inserts, sized for the yard's standard demoulding setup. Yard team briefed on the two-material handling.
First-off with architect
First bollard cast at the yard with the landscape architect present. Emblem sign-off in writing on the physical bollard.
The outcome
How it worked out.
The bollards are in production and being installed across the scheme. The emblem is reading sharply on every unit off the tool; the yard team is comfortable with the two-material regime; the landscape architect has approved the finish. The mould stays with the yard for the life of the scheme.
Lessons
What we'd tell the next person with this problem.
For any piece of concrete that goes into a high-visibility public space, worry more about the detail-holding areas of the tool than about the shape overall. A small area of silicone in the right place is worth more than a whole tool in the wrong material.
Related
Read another job.
Get in touch
Send us a photograph of the panel or the elevation.
One photograph tells us what surface you're chasing, and one line about the mix tells us what silicone or polyurethane will survive it.
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