A giant work of art is being installed at the future Elizabeth line station in Paddington — the huge glass roof which will be decorated with clouds.
A Cloud Index, designed by artist Spencer Finch and funded by Heathrow and the City of London, is a cloudscape that has been printed onto the glazed roof of the new Elizabeth line station, making it one of the largest permanent artworks ever created in the capital.
(c) Crossrail
Finch has hand-drawn 60 original pastels that combine to create a unique collage of clouds, that when printed onto the transparent canopy will appear to change according to the light, weather and time of day.
The canopy will sit 25 metres above the underground platforms, is a steel grid that holds 220 bespoke glass panels, each one weighing over a tonne. The hand-drawn scene will be ‘painted’ onto 180 of the panels using ceramic dot matrix printing that not only creates the image, but also reduces solar glare into the station.
(c) Crossrail
The artwork at Paddington station was selected by the Crossrail Art Foundation supported by an advisory Round Table in collaboration with Lisson Gallery and station architects Weston Williamson. An estimated 25 million passengers a year are expected to use Paddington Elizabeth line station when services through central London begin in December 2018.
(c) Crossrail
