PROJECT
Armed with my new knowledge I approached
a landscape architect to see if my findings were
correct. They agreed with me; I then went to
tender for an interior landscape company. We
chose Oasis Interior Landscaping, which were
amazing and got exactly what I was trying to
achieve. They sourced all the plant pots exactly as
I had requested and installed them.MAKING THE FURNITURE
Luke Morgan
The seating space was designed to be an art
installation in its own right, relating to the Atoll
structure but with a language of its own. Rather
than the individual pieces of furniture it was
about generating an inspiring atmosphere where
people could meet, work or hang out. All the
furniture was made in the studio and workshop I
share with Morag in Hoxton. I built the furniture
and Morag painted it with a small team of people.
FSC-certified marine ply is often our preferred
material. We like building simple forms that
provide a blank canvas to be decorated by hand-
painting and this time we added the luxury of
velvet cushions. We were able to keep the fixing
details to a minimum by welding complete tableFAR RIGHT
The biophilic
hypothesis inspired
the planted upper
level of the impressive
Atoll structure.
RIGHT AND BELOW
From planning to
painting, the Atoll
project followed
Morag’s vision from
the ground up.
and bench frames and delivering large, fully
assembled wooden units.
Metalwork is my specialism, so I found the
green wall element exciting and challenging
to design and make. It had to be a slim, tall
structure against a glass wall standing in between
and above the furniture. This was achieved by
hanging sections from above and connecting
them with hollow steel sections to match the solid
steel framework with no fixings into the glass and
no fixings between the welded sections.THE VERDICT
Morag Myerscough
Site builds always have their ups and downs, so
I was just happy that we delivered the project to
the quality I wanted and on time. I’m very proud
of what we’ve achieved and very grateful that
British Land and AHMM believed in the project
throughout. I also made one of my ambitions
come true: I’ve wanted to make a permanent
structural mosaic tiled piece for a long time, and
I got the opportunity, which does feel amazing.STAGE BY STAGE
BREAKING DOWN THE ATOLL’S
CREATION, FROM INITIAL
DRAWINGS TO INSTALLATION
1 Concept and development
drawings for the space by Morag
2 The concepts are turned into
SketchUp models by Morag
and Luke
3 Structural drawings by
engineers, supported by AHM
4 Fabricators create final
production drawings
5 Construction
6 Tile manufacturer takes
Morag’s tile designs from
Illustrator into CAD and
jet-cuts the tiles
7 Morag oversees installation