Albany Loop | LostMachine Design

Project overview

Design intent to finished work.

Albany Loop was designed by Brennan Cox of Groundworks Office for the Ohlone Greenway in Albany, California. LostMachine's role began with the design renderings and continued through production development, fabrication and installation.

The sculptural lettering was fabricated from 10-inch-diameter high-strength steel pipe. LostMachine translated the visual design into production-ready drawings, developed the custom fixtures needed to build the forms accurately, fabricated the steel letter components, and installed the completed work in the park.

Designer

Brennan Cox / Groundworks Office

Groundworks team

Sara Peschel · David Koo · Anastasia Betsch · Jinhee Ha

Client

City of Albany

Builder

LostMachine Design · 5 Elements

Completed

2018

LostMachine work

Production drawings · Fixture design · Steel fabrication · Installation

Finished work

Ohlone Greenway

Blue steel letter form of Albany Loop in the park — Public art installation

Albany Loop lettering integrated with the Ohlone Greenway landscape — Installed work

Detail view of fabricated Albany Loop steel lettering — Fabricated steel form

Albany Loop public artwork viewed along the path — Ohlone Greenway · Albany, California

01 · Production development

From rendering to buildable geometry.

Groundworks Office supplied the design intent and renderings. LostMachine converted that visual information into production-ready drawings for fabrication. The objective was not to redesign the artwork, but to determine how the established forms could be made accurately from large-diameter steel pipe.

Groundworks Office design rendering showing the proposed Albany Loop installation beneath the BART tracks — Site design rendering · Groundworks Office

Groundworks Office conceptual elevation showing the ALBANY lettering and human scale — Conceptual lettering study · Groundworks Office

Groundworks Office concept rendering showing people interacting with the low sculptural pipe elements — Interaction study · Groundworks Office

Albany Loop steel components during fabrication development — Production development

Large steel letter components for Albany Loop under fabrication — Fabrication geometry

Fabricated curved steel component for Albany Loop — Form development

LostMachine role: Translate Groundworks Office's design into drawings, geometry and fabrication decisions suitable for production while preserving the original design intent.

02 · Fixtures & fabrication

Building repeatable forms.

The letters were built from 10-inch-diameter high-strength steel pipe. Custom fixtures established the required geometry during cutting, fitting and welding, allowing the individual pipe sections to become the large letter forms shown in the original design.

Steel pipe components for Albany Loop during fabrication — 10-inch high-strength steel pipe

Albany Loop steel lettering during shop fabrication — Shop fabrication

Large fabricated Albany Loop letter component — Fabricated component

LostMachine role: Develop the fixtures and fabrication process, then build the steel lettering from the production geometry.

03 · Installation

Built for the site.

Andy Tibbetts and the LostMachine crew installed the completed letter forms along the Ohlone Greenway. The same production information used in the shop carried through to placement and assembly in the park, keeping fabrication and field installation connected as one process.

Completed Albany Loop components arriving at the site — Transporting fabricated components to the site

Telehandler positioning a large Albany Loop steel component during installation — Rigging and positioning a large fabricated section

Telehandler setting a blue Albany Loop pipe form into the prepared site — Setting a fabricated section at the Ohlone Greenway

Albany Loop lettering and sculptural pipe forms during on-site installation — Installation in progress

LostMachine role: Carry the project through fabrication and on-site installation rather than separating the shop work from final placement.

Recognition

ASLA Northern California Chapter Merit Award

Artist fabrication

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