Harries/Heder Public Art

SunFlowers Permanent Installation

Plan View South along bike path

Location:	Austin, TX
Client:	Catellus Development Co.
Size:	30' x 1000' x 16'
Materials:	Photovoltaic solar collector panels, welded steel frames and stems, landforms and plantings
Budget:	$595,000:
	$470,000 from the Developer
	$75,000 from Austin Energy rebate
	$50,000 grant from Applied Materials Inc.

SunFlowers was initiated as a buffer to mask the loading docks at the edge of a development
along the I-35 highway, but we chose to make it into an attraction and an important facility in its own right.

The first phase of 15 units to be completed in May, 2008. The project will form the edge of a large new sustainable community adjacent to Interstate 35. A serpentine public bike path will wind through in the shade of the 15-20 foot sculptural solar collectors. The completed project will generate approximately 30 kilowatts of electricity to be fed into the grid, reverse metered for credit to the owner and lighting the pieces themselves at night.

Scale Model of Individual SunFlower

Site Plan

The project, now under construction, provides an icon for the sustainable, LEED certified development and is a highly visible metaphor for the energy conscious City of Austin.

Solar Panel Material

The custom-made solar collector panels have a blue crystalline surface and appear like a garden of huge flowers facing the northbound traffic on I-35.

On the bike path the special transparent blue gel sandwiched into the panels create shade and dappled blue light.

Birds Eye View of Stage 1

Cutaway Drawing of Bike Path with SunFlowers

Photos by

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