Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
This installation was a commission to supply artwork for a new, state-of-the-art water reclamation facility in the City of Edmond, Oklahoma. This visionary facility is designed to be a working laboratory that monitors the recovery process, and also an educational site that offers tours to members of the public. The City prides itself on conducting analyses based on value rather than cost, and leads with innovation, sustainability, renewable energy, and public outreach. While Edmond has incorporated such elements into other projects, this Administration/Laboratory building is a “flagship” project for the City–bringing them all together in one facility. Click on the image for information about the facility.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
Because of its focus on water reuse and conservation, the community worked hard to make sure that every aspect of the new building was a model of energy conservation through excellent design. The City’s philosophy of creating not just a public works facility, but a true community asset, can be seen in the care it has taken to make sure that their customers and the general public understand the function, purpose, and importance of the treatment plant. It’s rare to work in a physical space that is so thoughtfully aligned with its purpose, and the site felt like a perfect fit for the concept behind the Ripple Effect sculpture we had been asked to install.
Coffee Creek å√Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
These are the aeration basins that provide for oxygenation and mixing of active microorganisms with raw sewage. The recovery process filters out solids and debris. It also removes chemicals such as ammonia, nitrates and phosphorous, and potentially harmful micro-organisms. Currently it the effluent is released into Coffee Creek, and the water from the plant is of higher quality than that already in the stream. The long-term focus is on providing potable water during times of severe drought.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
At the rear of the building (seen here in the construction phase) a covered terrace overlooks the treatment plant. When construction is completed on the infrastructure and all process buildings, this terrace will serve as the starting point for guided tours along an interpretive trail through the entire complex.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
In addition, the design includes a large observation gallery situated between the labs and the core office area. Here, visitors learn about the reclamation processes, and sustainable water conservation practices in general. The area offers expansive views of lab and control room demonstrations, and this is where our kinetic sculpture is installed. Design of the space and furnishings is by BBN Architects (click image for link).
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
This sculpture is a customized redesign of an element from our previous public art installation called Inheritance (see Portfolio tab). Although the basic design concept did not change, many engineering modifications were required to ensure proper functioning in a significantly different architectural environment.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
One of the primary features that we needed to accommodate was a sloping ceiling that required a modified bracing system and limited the potential travel of the fins on one side.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
In addition, the total length of the sculpture (60 feet )was much shorter than the 150 foot run of the initial design. This meant that we needed to reconsider the spacing, length and weight distribution of the fins in order to maintain an elegant ripple motion.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
One of the innovations we implemented to slow the ripple down was to insert different sized weights into the ends of the acrylic fins to compensate for their differing mass.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
The pivot assembly remained similar to the previous assembly except for different bearings and bracing. These changes and the different spacing caused profound alterations in the motion of the fins, and required a lot of fine tuning of the stepper motor’s acceleration curve after installation.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
In the previous iteration of this sculpture the control assembly had been mounted mostly on the ceiling, with the stepper motor suspended below it. At Coffee Creek we had to mount the entire assembly on the wall, and discovered that the wall surface and cavity acted like a drum in amplifying the sound of the motor. We were able to resolve the issue by the installation of rubber isolation pads to dampen the noise.
Coffee Creek Ripple Effect, Water Resource Recovery Facility, Edmond, OK :: 2018.
This is a peek inside the reconfigured control box, showing the passive infra-red sensor mounting, controller and motor. For more details, see the Process tab below.