The thousands of travellers transiting through Perth’s new Airport Central Station are treated to two large-scale public artworks influenced by the Noongar people’s relationship to travel and the natural world. Brought to life using ImagInk digital ceramic printing and manufactured on 13.52mm Low Iron glass, the artworks span over 225sqm.
The new station is part of Perth’s recently opened $1.86 billion METRONET Forrestfield-Airport Link, which runs along an 8.5-kilometre rail line connecting the airport with the city’s eastern suburbs. The train link sits within Noongar boodja (country), which spans southwest Western Australia. The project created various forms of public art to link it to its local community, tell stories of cultural heritage and tie stations to their local environment.
Global engineering and architecture firm GHD provided the design coordination and architecture led by GHD’s integrated design studio GHDWoodhead and Weston Williamson + Partners.
The Brief
- Accurate reproduction of artwork
- Cost effective printing solution
- Safety and longevity of artwork
Renowned artists Anne Neil and John Walley, a Whadjuk Noongar Descendant, collaborated on artworks inspired by the idea of journey relating to Noongar people, and birds and flight. Their collaboration respectfully wove these artwork layers together, creating abstract integrated compositions describing the Noongar connection to river and estuary waters, and the journeys taken by Noongar people to connect with their traditional lands and spiritual obligations.
The station’s other artworks include a sculptural wall composition inspired by birds and flight – birds that figure prominently in traditional Noongar lore.
Having worked previously with Cooling Brothers ImagInk printed glass, Anne was aware of the design process to translate artworks to digital files for printing, and the colour gamut required to reproduce and represent artworks faithfully.
“The Forrestfield-Airport Link project allowed us to create highly visible stations that feature inspiring spaces to provide an attractive ‘whole of journey’ experience to maximise the utilisation of public transport. These landmark transport facilities will transform the local urban environment and become a catalyst for the future development of housing, jobs, and community services in the eastern suburbs of Perth,” said GHDWoodhead studio director Ricardo Kiperman.
Why ImagInk was specified
1. Accurate reproduction of artwork
Cooling Brothers has over 10 years’ experience delivering public artworks printed on glass, and a deep understanding of how the colours translate from original artwork to digital printing. The ImagInk team works closely with artists during the design phase of any project.
“I knew the ImagInk process would capture exactly the artwork’s intent,” Anne says. “We also needed to make sure that the background colour and feature colours – sand, beige and two blues – were faithful to the shades in John’s drawing. Being able to work closely with the Cooling Brothers team in Perth during the design process was critical to the success of the final outcome.”
2. Cost effective printing solution
With the artwork featuring a limited colour palette, and printing coverage varying across panels, the project could be delivered at a cost-effective price point that maximised scale and visual impact.
3. Safety and longevity of artwork
Powered by DipTech DX-3 technology, ImagInk is a direct-to-glass printing process. Containing sub-micron glass particles and inorganic pigments, ImagInk ceramic inks have superior light fastness and are guaranteed for 25 years against fading. Once printed, ImagInk is toughened as a grade A safety glass.
Used in an overhead glazing application at Central Station. the toughened printed glass was combined into a 13.52mm custom laminate to meet the Australian Standards for overhead glazing requirements.
Design and production
Taking John’s original drawing, Anne worked closely with the Cooling Brothers team to create an artwork that matched the site’s parameters, glass panel sizes and the station’s interior palette. Anne also found it helpful to visit and view the artwork in person rather than having to view the artwork remotely online, particularly in relation to choosing the colours.
“We had to consider how to make the artwork flow across the panels without losing details in the joins. During the production process the Cooling Brothers design team was able to integrate the correct allowances and tolerances for gaps – the finished work lines up perfectly.”
Once printed, the artwork was custom laminated using an SGP structural interlayer, and installed with mechanical fixings back to the station wall. The custom laminate ensures that the panel will remain intact should it break, preventing it from falling onto travellers within the station.
Since 2010, Cooling Brothers has delivered a significant range of ImagInk printed glass projects into the public realm, including the Sarich Neuroscience Research Institute, the Busselton Civic & Administration Centre, and the iconic Elizabeth Quay Gusto Gelato stand.
“We have experience in all stages of public art projects, from design concepts and artwork photography, through to installation and engineering certification where required,” says director Vince Bianchini. “We were very pleased to be able to supply the printing for this iconic project.”
The ImagInk process ticked all the boxes for colour accuracy, longevity and safety, Anne added.
Project details
Project: Forrestfield-Airport Link Central Station
Architect: GHD Woodhead
Artists: Anne Neil and John Walley
Product: Imagink Printed Glass
Glass Specification: 13.52mm Low Iron
- SGP Interlayer
- Lacobel T Oyster White Ceramic coated
