Propeller Bloom, a 1500mm wide show stopping feature piece is the largest addition to the Duncan Meerding Design Propeller Light range and our largest hanging light to date.
 
The light commands presence and is designed and destined to occupy high ceilinged rooms and architectural void spaces. 8 petal-inspired Tasmanian Eucalypt blades slot into a custom made black anodised aluminium central disk, gently curving out and down around a single central bulb, with a large hand-turned blackwood nose cone completing the Propellor Bloom.
 
This feature light was made in response to a client’s fondness for the open Propellor, but they wanted a bigger light with more presence to fit within a large architectural space. The challenge was to maintain the lightness in form and the independent structure, where each blade only connects into the central disk and not to one another.
 
This feature light piece was made using new computer driven manufacturing techniques and technology for the reimagined central disk, whilst utilising more traditional hand driven making techniques for the timber-based parts of the design.
 
The haptic feel that is central to all my designing informed the new upscaled Propeller Bloom. The fulcrum effect of the extended size of the petals/blades needed to be considered, and a new clamping system was created for the larger iteration. New techniques needed to be utilised to create the larger blades and allow for rigidity over such span, whilst still allowing a lightness in form. Each blade has been hand pressed and formed, with multiple glue layers and cross laminating grain structures for increased strength.
 
Light bursting through and around forms, with a concentration on over all form rather than intense details is of importance to me as a designer and reflects the alternative sensory world in which I design, being partially blind with less than 5% vision concentrated around the periphery. This light bursting from the side is showcased in this Propeller Bloom with a starburst styled pattern thrown to the ceiling above, whilst still maintaining useful light for the area below.

Whilst this prototype light was designed and made for a local client in the island state of Tasmania, Australia, where the Duncan Meerding practise is based, the large form was designed to be flat packable for ease and minimised cost in transportation.
 
This feature light is suspended from 4 - 1.2 mm wide stainless-steel cables, with a singular black cloth covered cord centrally for powering the light itself. All the cords and cables  terminate in a 305mm wide singular ceiling canopy. Clients can specify the length of cord and cables during the ordering process.