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Sculpture Spirals Round at Quality Court

A British Turntable manually operated rotate base unit has contributed to the creation of an innovative and dramatic centrepiece at the stylish managed office accommodation offered by the Workspace Group at Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London.

The centrepiece, named Ascending Spiral, was speciallyf commissioned from renowned sculptor, David Worthington, by Simon Taylor, Divisional Director at Workspace Group in conjunction with Maddy Carragher, Operations Director, who requested "a sculpture that filled the space and had a dynamic quality that could bring to life a sterile environment".

David Worthington took this a stage further, creating a piece that not only appears to move, but actually does: by mounting it on a turntable, the sculpture can be turned round to create an infinite variety of shapes and change the focus. The effect is stunning. Fashioned from a 7 tonnes block of black Kilkenny limestone, the elegant 4 metres high Ascending Spiral coils up into the atrium-topped central well, reinforcing the spacious feel to the building and complementing perfectly its contemporary design.

The sculpture is mounted on a spindle bolted onto the outer ring of a bearing specially built by British Turntable to David Worthington's specification to ensure its compatibility with the 2 tonnes plus load it would need to carry and turn the finished piece. With more than 45 years in the business of rotating anything from cars to aeroplanes, fine jewellery to tanks, British Turntable was David Worthington's first port of call to supply the manual rotate. "I chose British Turntable because of their unrivalled experience in solving any problem with regard to turning the strange objects I make," he says.

"So far we have successfully created two large- scale sculptures that turn easily, and we have devised bearings for numerous smaller ones." His first approach to British Turntable was to devise a turning mechanism for a 4 tonne turning pebble, Yo Reina, for exhibition at the Glyndebourne Opera 2001; Yo Reina can now be seen at Sculpture at Goodwood in Sussex.

Further information can be obtained from Phil Childs, tel: +44 (0)1204 525626, fax +44 (0)1204 382407, e-mail info@turntable.co.uk