Thirty-five years on, the designer and creator of Lake Te Koo Utu’s Olympia Flowform was back in Cambridge this month refurbishing the iconic sculpture, to ensure it lasts another three decades.
Ian Trousdell recently passed through Waipā to check out the structure and noticed it needed some love and attention.
“Some of the little fins had worn and broken away, along with a few other important surface areas. Repairing these features ensures the structure is working as intended.”
The sculpture has a unique design method aimed at oxygenating the water by flowing in figure of eight movements before cascading down to the bowl below.
“By the time the water hits the lake, it is aerobic - which is great for the ecosystem.”
Trousdell said the structure and landscape look very different from how he remembered them back in the 1980s.
“There is now a great staircase up the hill and moss has grown on the sides of the bowls – I think it looks great and has blended well into its habitat.”
Trousdell, who is now director of Design for Life Co Limited and Flowform International Limited, based in Hawkes Bay, was commissioned by the former Cambridge Borough Council to design and sculpt the structure in 1989.
He reflected on how great it was to come back and spruce it up all these years later. While he was at work he had many people stop to chat and admire it.
“One person said how much they love to come and just be in nature and listen to the water for their mental health. By doing some small repairs now I hope people can continue to enjoy it for many more years to come.”
Each bowl was designed out of clay which then went into a plaster cast and then a fibreglass mould, fine-tuned along the way, before the final structure was poured and moulded from concrete.
“To get it in place we had to use a tractor and pulley system to haul it up the steep hill. It took three weeks to install and set up, and a total of one year from design to installation.”
