Mike Smith Studio

Would you like to work as a fabricator for Mike Smith Studio in our West London studio?

We were delighted to be part of the team creating the Royal Bank of Canada Garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2017 - designed by Charlotte Harris.

We fabricated the pavilion, designed by Feix and Merlin, using charred larch and patinated copper.

The garden was awarded a Gold Medal by the Chelsea judges.

Further project details here:

http://mikesmithstudio.com/projects/chelsea-flower-show-2017-royal-bank-canada-show-garden/

The Burberry Christmas Tree for Claridge’s Hotel, London. Designed by Christopher Bailey of Burberry.

We’ve just finished making and installing this stunning Christmas Tree. We were approached by Burberry to fabricate the structure and decorative umbrellas to form this iconic tree - a symbol that the festive season has started in Mayfair.

We made a conical stainless steel structure, complete with custom made bright-polished trunking to run the many cables powering the lights.

The umbrellas were formed of vinyl stretched over umbrella frames. We did some intensive design work to get the fit perfect, then produced the three different sizes of umbrella in silver and gold material.

Working with a lighting company - Light Initiative - we ensured the LED arrays were incorporated into the umbrellas, and then the entire unit was fitted to the structure, with the cables carefully hidden away within.

The base of the unit was CNC routed from mirror-finish composite to house all of the computers and drivers needed to control the 77,000 LEDs within the tree.

Finally we installed everything overnight in Claridge’s Hotel, London, so guests could awake to a cascade of light and beautiful reflections from the high-shine on the umbrellas. The tree comes to life when approached, thanks to three motion-sensors we installed within it, and will respond to movement by the viewer, making the lights dance and jump.

There’s just a few hours left to get tickets to come on a studio tour! See what we’re making at the moment - from gallery pieces, to large internal decorative items and a few bits and bobs for Paris Fashion Week!

We have just completed this project for Lambeth Council/Paola Piglia - figures on the columns at the entrance to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.

Paola Piglia designed the two figures - a man from the modern day, offering a flower to a woman in 18th Century dress - to show a link between the Pleasure Gardens’ past and future.

They now stand on top of two cast pillars, 18 metres tall, and look like drawings against the sky, with their delicate outlines.

We had the outlines laser cut and folded the connecting steel plate ourselves, to fit the profiles. We then welded them up and had them galvanised and powder coated before a team went to the Pleasure Gardens and installed them.

Our newest project page is all about the Copper Plinth we made for the new Information Age gallery, in the Science Museum, London.

We created this model for Knight Dragon, depicting the Greenwich Peninsula, London, which is currently being redeveloped.

The model base is made from rubber-coated MDF, with high density foam buildings and CNC cut plywood making up the London skyline and Canary Wharf area.

The Peninsula itself has a range of different materials, depicting different buildings. From dichroic film on perspex in stainless steel frames, to Travertine, cedar wood, Lego, preserved moss, brass and cast polyurethane resin.

We created each piece of the model in our studio, and also made two sets of aeroplanes, spinning on stainless hoops, powered by slow-speed motors, to reflect the nearby London City Airport. We also depicted the Greenwich Cable Car, made with brass-clad steel for the two stations, and scaled-down cars hanging from a stainless steel wire. The motor section for this is in the lower station, and the tensioning gear is hidden in the upper one, some 6.5 metres from ground level.

The zinc-plated signs inform viewers of the area they are looking at, and the red neon light-tubes pick out the path of the running track which winds through the site. The parkland is picked out in moss, and two London Underground trains run from the Canary Wharf section into the Greenwich section of the model.

The studio has been working flat out this summer, creating this 50 sq metre model of Greenwich Peninsular, ready for the unveiling of the new plans for development.

We created the 'land' from rubber coated MDF, and the viewer walks through the model as if they were in the Thames.

The skyline of London is created with Plywood cut outs of some of London's most famous landmarks and icons, whilst the buildings of Canary Wharf are created from high density foam coated in rubber.

The peninsular is a riot of colour and materials, as each zone of the development is picked out in a different material. From glass to brass, dichroic film set into stainless steel to Lego bricks. We've cast resin, we've welded and soldered, we've all had fun with Lego and model trains and moss, and we've made and wired lit zinc signs. Then, to finish, neon picks a path through the model, representing the running track which will wind through the development.

The model is on display to the public now, in the Gateway Pavilions, just outside North Greenwich tube station and across the plaza from the O2 Dome.

In the same building is London's newest gallery - NOW gallery is currently showing SImon Heijdens' new work 'Shade' - LCD film on the gallery windows changes as the wind blows, projecting the sunlight into the gallery in an ever changing pattern.

A large steel framework wall clad with hand-cast resin panels, for Céline's London store, in Mount Street, Mayfair.

We have just installed this wall into Céline's fashion boutique, having made and test fitted it in our London workshop.