Turners House - Telescope

Client: Squint Opera Studio / Turners House

Year: 2017

Designing and making this telescope was a really exciting project for Squint Opera Studio and Turners House.

The painter JMW Turner built a villa in Twickenham in 1813 called Sandycombe Lodge, it has recently been restored with some wonderful craftsmanship. We were asked by ‘Squint Opera’ at an early stage of the project to help re-create the telescope he once used in this house, but with a twist – so it would contain a mobile phone and allow the viewer to ‘explore’ and image by moving the angle of the telescope. Our remit was to design the telescope and packaging with an authentic 18th Century appearance but with no visible cables – this was the tricky bit as the phone has to remain plugged-in for power. We then made the telescope from scratch.