Coakley Brothers recently hired Brooklyn artist Tom Fruin to install a mosaic water tower sculpture atop its Walker’s Point headquarters. Fruin created the piece using multi-colored plexiglass formed into 60 panels welded together with steel.
The commercial relocation and office interiors company secured Fruin after Coakley president and chief executive officer Peggy Coakley saw one of his water tower sculptures and realized he could provide a solution for the heavy, aging water tower base on the company’s building.
-
- Coakley is in the midst of a $6 million renovation of about 40,000 square feet of its 175,000-square-foot facility at 400 S. Fifth St. in Walker’s Point. Credit Lila Aryan Photography
-
- Daniel Stroven, Tom Fruin and Matt Canada, studio manager at Tom Fruin Studios, discuss plans for the water tower construction. Credit Lila Aryan Photography
-
- Employees from Hennes Services, Dawes Crane Service, Preferred Electric, Dublin Contractors, Safway Services, CSD Engineering and ADK Design worked on the project. Credit Lila Aryan Photography
-
- Matt Magyar, project manager with ADK Design, Canada and Fruin attach a steel ring to the plexiglass panels. Credit Lila Aryan Photography
-
- Fruin holds up the top of the water tower while workers attach it. Credit Lila Aryan Photography
-
- Peggy Coakley stands in front of the newly installed water tower, which is 62 feet high and will be illuminated at night. Credit Lila Aryan Photography
Coakley employees restored the base in August, said Daniel Stroven, construction project manager at Coakley Brothers.
Fruin assembled his artwork on site with the help of Coakley employees and local contractors over the course of a week, but the planning and panel creation took about eight months.
“It’s a series I’ve been calling icons, where it’s taking infrastructure, commonplace city architecture, and then try to make it new,” Fruin said.
