Rising star of lighting design reveals latest commission on Euston Road

14 January 2008

One of the UK's most prolific designers, Paul Cocksedge, has been commissioned by the Wellcome Trust to produce a major display illuminating Euston Road in central London.

A short stroll from the recently launched St Pancras International station sits an impressive nine-storey glass building, which houses the UK's largest charity, the Wellcome Trust. The front windows of the building are seen by over 1.8 million passers by each year, providing the perfect opportunity to engage the public with the work of this medical charity.

With this in mind, Paul Cocksedge has created a dramatic window display of arms stretching across the full length of the building. Using a unique electronic material that allows light to pass through it, but with a flick of a switch can stop the light, the magic skin covering the arms disappears to reveal veins and arteries inside the arms, which have been translated into glass neon tubes.

One of the hands is intentionally pointing to the building next door, drawing attention to the recently launched Wellcome Collection, a public venue that explores the relationship between medicine, life, art and history. James Peto, Senior Curator at Wellcome Collection, commented: "The challenge was to create a window design that in the simplest of terms gets across a message about the Wellcome Trust."

Paul Cocksedge explains: "I am keen to engage with those passers-by who are not familiar with the work of the Trust, and also to show the relationship between two buildings that are architecturally distinct from one another. The reference to the human body is a symbol of medical research, all be it an obvious one. I am keen to show how making the skin become invisible reveals the workings of the arms, similar to an X-ray. The intention is that people walking along busy Euston Road will, for a moment in time, consider their own bodies and walk away with a clear association between imagery and the Wellcome Trust."

Paul Cocksedge (29) was born in London and studied industrial design at Sheffield Hallam University before attending the Royal College of Art in London. He has exhibited his work at the Design Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum. He was nominated for the Design Museum's Designer of the Year Prize in 2004.

Media enquiries

Mike Findlay
Wellcome Collection Media Officer
T +44 (0)20 7611 8612
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk

Notes to editors

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £500 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

The Wellcome Trust's former headquarters, the Wellcome Building on London's Euston Road, has been redesigned by Hopkins Architects to become a new £30 million public venue. Free to all, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The building comprises three galleries, a public events space, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop, conference facilities and a members' club.

Paul Cocksedge Studio is based in London and was established in 2003 with business partner Joana Pinho. The Studio undertakes commissions and consultancy projects for a diverse range of clients across numerous industries. It continues to build a sophisticated portfolio of projects, which grow from a unique and experimental approach to design and materials.

Clients include the British Council, Conran & Partners Architects, the Design Museum, Manchester Art Gallery, Swarovski and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Exhibitions and lectures have been held at the London Design Museum, Sidney Powerhouse Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum among others.

Awards: Bombay Sapphire Glass Prize Awards (2003); nominated for the Design Museum's Designer of the Year Prize (2004).

Contact

Paul Cocksedge Studio
2A Brenthouse Road
London E9 6QG
T +44(0)7966 790 998
F +44(0)208 985 0907
E info@paulcocksedge.co.uk

Credits

Window design by Paul Cocksedge Studio
Fitted by Jack Trench Ltd
Neon manufactured and installed by Avenue Signs Ltd
UV film by Solarshield Ltd
Electrical design by Mike Revill
3D data for the vessels supplied by Primal Pictures Ltd
Photography by Richard Brine