Custom Art Installations

Big ideas still have to hang from something.
We make sure that they can.

Let's work together!

Where Sculpture Meets Structural Reality

We fabricate and install large-scale custom art for lobbies, corporate campuses, universities, healthcare environments, casinos, and hospitality spaces throughout San Diego, Southern California, and across the country. Some projects begin as concepts developed alongside Tecture Studio. Others arrive as an artists, architects, or designers fully formed vision in need of a shop that can make it real. In both cases the work is ours from the first material study to the last connection on site.

Art installation fabrication is where repeatable processes meet one-off problems. A suspended sculpture made from 1,200 discs. Ten thousand pounds of beach stone suspended. Hundreds of color-treated rods cutting diagonally through a room. Each carries its own load path, rigging plan, assembly sequence, and tolerance for what the surrounding structure can actually take. We prototype before we commit, and we fabricate in wood, metal, stone, acrylic, and mixed media inside our 25,000 square foot San Diego shop. When the geometry cannot be produced by hand, the work goes straight from our digital models to the CNC router, laser cutter, waterjet, or plasma table without losing a single detail in translation.

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Detail of Convergence, a hand painted illuminated wall sculpture of banded color and a flock of metal forms in San Diego Cloudscape suspended disc sculpture hanging the full height of a glazed office atrium Sculptural benches of stacked raw wood planks on a stone terrace outside a San Diego office campus Acid etched steel map cladding wrapping an elevator lobby wall, the Rust Map installation in San Diego Detail of Glitch, hundreds of color treated PVC rods fanning across a lit ceiling at UC San Diego Cloudscape disc cluster seen from above, suspended below the large skylight of an office atrium Carved relief wall of branching forms alongside a floating stair with a glas balustrade Detail of Stone Flock, beach stones suspended on individual cables in a schooling formation Branded infinity mirror niche with a large black letter R set into a mirrored grid in a San Diego office lobby Data field, layered ble and wood tone discs wrapping an elevator core at the UC San Diego data science institute Tall carved mixed media wall sculpture with wood topography and metal mapping set between the flights of a residential stair Convergence seen in full, a forty foot painted and illuminated wall sculpture running alongside an open stair Acid etched steel map panel with a person walking past, the Rust Map installation in San Diego >

How A Custom Art Installation Gets Built

Curved wood slat cloud forms mounted on a concrete lobby wall at Avidity Biosciences in San Diego Two team members reviewing finish samples and a painted mockup panel on the shop floor Two fabricators reviewing a large etched metal art panel on the bench in the shop Stack of colored MDF panels on the CNC router bed among cut chips being used for a material study Shop drawing with perspective and plan views of the Migration sculpture section, wood slats on a steel frame Fabricator at the CNC router clearing a routed lattice panel at the Tecture shop in San Diego Beach stones hung on individual cables forming the underside of the Stone Flock sculpture Curved wood slat sculpture sections standing in the shop before installation Fabricator assembling a backlit panel with glowing organic openings in the shop Install crew on a boom lift setting the suspended Migration sculpture under a glass canopy in Torrey Pines
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With large-scale installations, the most expensive parts are usually the ones you cannot see in the rendering. We price fabrication, engineering, rigging, and installation as separate scopes, and we price them early, so the number is legible before anyone is committed to it. Where a concept does not pencil, we come back with value engineered options that still hold the idea.

You do not need to know exactly how it gets built before you bring us a concept. We work through material behavior, module sizing, connection strategies, finishes, and site conditions until the concept can be fabricated, transported, and installed.

Surprises are cheap in the shop and expensive on a lift in a finished lobby. We build material samples, finish studies, prototype modules, and full-scale mockups so the hard calls get made before anything is committed to.

A one-off piece has no precedent to point at, so the drawing set becomes the definition of the artwork. We produce shop drawings covering geometry, module breaks, connections, hardware, and finishes, then carry that set through review with the artist, the design team, and the general contractor. The point is not paperwork. It is that the piece we build is the piece you drew, and everyone can see that before any material is cut.

CNC routing, laser and plasma cutting, waterjet cutting, and 3D printing are how we produce complex components, even when every piece is unique. The digital model drives the machine, each component is labeled, and the assembly sequence is planned before the first cut. At that scale, repeatability is a data problem before it's a craft problem.

Anything overhead has to be defensible. We begin by identifying the structure above the ceiling, then establish load paths and attachment points. Licensed structural engineers verify the loads and connections, confirm code compliance, and stamp documentation where a permit requires it. Rigging hardware, cable tension, access, and deflection tolerances are resolved before fabrication, not discovered during installation.

Milled wood, welded and machined steel, suspended stone, acrylic, PVC, cast concrete, hand-applied paint, and custom patina. The range matters because sculptural installations rarely stay within the boundaries of a single trade. When a piece calls for a specialized craft, we bring in the right collaborators and manage that scope through our drawings, schedule, and installation plan.

Lighting should read as part of the piece, not as hardware mounted onto it. We design LEDs, drivers, dimming, and diffusion into the assembly, coordinate power and data routing with the electrical team, and plan the access required to service the system years later. Interactive and AV components are treated the same way: designed in rather than added on.

Our install crews handle the work other crews turn down. Pieces delivered in modules and assembled overhead, geometry that only resolves once every component is in place, and site conditions well outside the ordinary. We install every element to design intent and applicable safety requirements, then turn over a clear access strategy so the building team can clean, maintain, and service the work over time.
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Art Installations Across San Diego

Convergence, a forty foot hand painted illuminated wall sculpture with integrated lighting in San Diego

Convergence

San Diego, California
A forty foot hand painted illuminated wall sculpture, drawn from flock behaviors found in nature.

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Stone Flock, ten thousand pounds of beach stone suspended in a San Diego lobby

Stone Flock

San Diego, California
Ten thousand pounds of beach stone suspended overhead as an abstract of schooling and flocking behaviors.

Glitch, hundreds of color treated PVC rods cutting diagonally through a UC San Diego breakout nook

Glitch

San Diego, California
Hundreds of layered, color-treated PVC rods cutting diagonally floor-to-ceiling through a UC San Diego breakout nook.

FAQ

  • Cost tracks scale, materials, engineering, finish, lighting, rigging, the site access, and installation conditions. There is no useful square-foot number for one off pieces, so we price those scopes separately and show you which ones are carrying the budget. If the first version is not workable, we develop alternatives that protect the core idea while reducing unnecessary complexity or cost.

  • Yes - if mobility is part of the design from the start. We have built modular, transportable installations for events and conferences that can be assembled and dismantled repeatedly. That decision changes the joinery, hardware, finish, durability, crating, and overall budget, which is why we plan for it at the beginning of the project.

  • We start with what is above the ceiling, because that decides everything else: the available structure, the attachment points, and how much load they can take. That answer sets the rigging plan, the module sizes, and the connection details before fabrication starts, rather than after a piece is already built.

  • Our fabrication shop is based in San Diego. We install throughout Southern California - including Downtown San Diego, Bankers Hill, La Jolla, and Torrey Pines, and travel for projects across the United States as well. Travel, lift access, site restrictions, and installation logistics are planned and priced up front, not introduced later as a surprise.

  • Timelines vary based on scale, engineering, approvals, material lead times, prototyping, and site coordination. A straightforward piece may move quickly; a large suspended, illuminated, or interactive installation needs more runway. Once we review the concept and site conditions, we build a realistic schedule that includes design assist, engineering, fabrication, finishing, and installation.

Migration, suspended wood members on a black steel armature above an open stairway on a Torrey Pines campus

Tell us what you want to make, where it needs to live, and what’s holding it up!

Let's work together!