Artists and Ballinrobe industrialist share values ^Featured

The exhibition aimed to provide an insight into the creative process through presenting new work from a range of artists, architects and scientists.

The pallets were provided by kind donation of Fergal Moran, a University of Limerick Alumni and co-owner of Wood Systems Ltd. Pallet manufacturers, of Ballinrobe  – one of only five companies licensed to manufacture EPAL pallets within Ireland. 

His company manufacture over 17,000 high quality pallets per week serving the multinational sector in Ireland and the UK.

Jan Frohburg, spokesperson for the student group 'The Drawing Board’ that created the installation explains: "Taking inspiration from the many depictions of St Jerome in his study, the Drawing Board proposed creating a ‘room within a room’. 

"The proposed intervention intends to remove the viewer from the simultaneous confirms of the white-walled exhibition space and the former church, by providing a distinctly different sensorial experience that allows the space to be viewed in a new way.  

"Set out to control movement, to arrest the visitors wandering through the exhibition – the installation guides them around and up into the viewing space. 

"Aiming to create a threshold situation rather than containment, the design explores the possibilities of a raised platform in combination with a suspended or transparent envelope. 

"The design engages materials that combine apparent lightness and sensuality with an assertive strength vis-à-vis the eclectic church interior.

"With the project limited to a minimal budget, the design takes recourse to using borrowed materials and rendering an elementary spatial condition by defining two sides of an enclosure and the floor, she adds.

Fergal Moran commented: "This is not the first time that pallets have been used for building and designing temporary architectural works such as temporary meeting places or auditoria.  However, what is most striking about this installation is that the inspiration behind the structure matches so well with the industrial pallet choices that are made everyday in industry. 

“Since the University of Limerick is my Alma Mater I was happy to help with the exhibition.  The idea of using the pallets to ‘transport’ the viewer in a controlled manner, is of course what the pallets were designed to do. 

The engineering which has gone into designing the pallets in such a way that they can be strong, stackable, load–bearing, and easily handled units is what makes them so appealing to warehouse users across the globe, as well as architecture students creating platforms.

Warehouse users everywhere will appreciate the consideration of budget constraints and transparency. EPAL Pallets are manufactured to strict quality control standards therefore needing fewer repairs throughout their longer lifespan, thus saving up to 25% compared to other pallet solutions.”