Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford recently opened the doors to its new state-of-the-art building in California, USA. At 48,402m2, the new building depicts California’s diverse ecosystem and natural beauty, with each floor representing a native eco-region. Its founder, the late Lucile Salter Packard was a known advocate for treating both the patient and their family, not just the illness. With this in mind, lead architect Robin Guenther, a principal with the architectural firm Perkins + Will in association with Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. and Mazzetti, set out to fulfill Packard’s vision by designing one of the country’s most sustainable children’s hospitals.

To bring to life two mosaic tile designs representative of California’s seashore and the Redwood Forest, international award-winning mosaic artist Gary Drostle and his company, UK-based Drostle Public Arts, created and installed 19 hand-cut mosaics using Winckelman Unglazed Porcelain, a set of bronze medallions and 700 hand-cast glass leaves to be set in a specially-designed terrazzo floor. After nearly two years of craftsmanship, Drostle’s designs were installed in the ground floor lobby area of the hospital and first-floor central corridor using LATICRETE products.

“For each portion of our mosaic tile work, there was an appropriate LATICRETE product to ensure a lasting installation and bring the ‘wow’ factor with a pop of colour in the grout. More importantly than that, each of the products chosen has received multiple certifications and declarations, including Health Product Declarations (HPD), Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) and UL GREENGUARD Gold Certifications for low chemical emissions for sustainable living,” said Drostle.

Click here to read the full Project Spotlight.

For more information on using LATICRETE in your projects, product demos, samples or technical support please contact LATICRETE on 1800 331 012, email sales@laticrete.com.au or visit www.laticrete.com.au.

A River Runs Through

"River of Life"

Gary Drostle's River of Life by Julie Richey

The below extract is taken directly from the published article - Mosaic Art NOW, No. 4, 2011:

You can't miss the river when driving into Iowa City, Iowa. The whole town climbs up from its meandering banks. At some points wildly overgrown, at others chastened with minor dams, the river appears placid as it snakes through the University of Iowa campus. Locals know, however, that the river occasionally creeps - or even surges - over its banks. This image of a river as a metaphor for life is the subject of award-winning UK mosaic artist Gary Drostle's largest public commission to date.

One of three large public commissions installed at the University of Iowa in 2010, Drostle's mosaics are a stunning focal point and a welcome addition to the extensive University of Iowa art collection.

Created for the University of Iowa Wellness Center, the River of Life and its accompanying medallion, Movement and Vitality, welcome visitors at the main entrance to this state-of-the-art, $59 million facility. The main mosaic, a 48 by 12 foot "river" of Winckelman porcelain tile, invites viewers to step across its spiralling source and meander, following he flow of both water and student athletes. 

"The course of tesserae are like people's lives," says Drostle. "They start at the top or source, with birth. Some of them don't quite make it," he says, alluding to the infrequent stray lines of tile that snake off the main body of the river, seemingly on their own random journey. The darkest areas of the river are "life out of balance," where the River of Life flows over the darkened quilt and basket patterns, spilling over the perimeter."

Henry B. Rothberg played a vital role in the selection of materials and the support. To continue reading what Gary Drostle had to say about LATICRETE and the products used on this amazing mosaic click here.

For technical or product support contact us by calling 1800 331 012 or email us here.