Scotch College

Burning bush centre pieces set Farewell Dinner alight

Words: JOHN FLYNN • HEAD OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

The School’s Design and Technology department manufactured and designed the spectacular table centre pieces for the Principal’s Farewell Dinner.

Those wonderful burning bush table centre pieces, a simple but highly effective Scotch symbol at the Principal’s Farewell Dinner on 22 November, were created in the School’s Design Technology department  

Kate Paterson, Scotch’s Events and Functions Manager, approached the School’s Design Technology department to request a visually interesting table decoration for the dinner at the Crown Palladium Ballroom. The brief was to create an exciting table centre piece, which would act as a mood light as well as being an arresting sculptural piece.

The first ideas and indeed the whole project were coordinated in the department by Dylan Coleman. As it was a lighting device, there were issues with electricity and water, including the very real danger of people being electrocuted – which would have made a lasting impact of the worst possible kind at the dinner!

During a brainstorming session involving Kate Paterson, John Drago, Dylan Coleman and Hunter McWhinney, an idea of using the burning bush motif for the design arose. Not only is the burning bush a powerful symbol of the Presbyterian movement, representing God’s eternal presence, it is of course one of the most enduring symbols of Scotch College.

That day we photographed the wonderful sculpture by Jim Derham that adorns Old Scotch Square. The graceful bronze lines were then carefully traced onto a computer, forming the basis of what was to be the final design.

The preferred medium of perspex from which to create the table pieces has the wonderful quality of being able to catch and disperse light through its edges and, because it is clear, guests could converse with each other and see through the sculpture.

The School had recently purchased an Epilog laser cutter, capable of etching and cutting most materials into complex shapes quickly and efficiently. This machine not only has the potential to enhance the design curriculum, but it has opened up many creative opportunities using digital technology for the boys in Design Technology. This proved to be the ideal manufacturing solution for the burning bushes.

The design that emerged was simple but effective; a flat-pack design that was easily assembled from a few pieces, all cut from a single sheet. This was then mounted onto a box that held an array of bright red light-emitting diodes, bringing the whole design to life.

When the day of the Farewell Dinner arrived, some Year 11 boys volunteered to help assemble the table decorations and usher guests to their seats. The Palladium Room was transformed into a sea of glowing burning bushes, perhaps bringing an element of faith and a symbol of the eternal presence. Many favourable comments were overheard during the evening about the beauty and atmosphere these pieces created. Indeed a number of guests were keen to take one home!

Thanks are extended to Dylan Coleman and John Drago for their wonderful support of this project. GS