Paddington Square (London), 25 August 2026 – The permanent public art installation, ‘Somethinging’ by California-based artist Pae White has been shortlisted for the 2026 IStructE Structural Awards. The engineering team, let by Price & Myers (P&M), designed a lightweight and unobtrusive structure that supports this delicate sculpture in what can be a windy location. The structure relies on pulling against Renzo Piano Building Workshop’s Paddington Square building.
P&M threaded nine metal rods through the sculpture and used the tension in them to restrain the artwork in all-weather conditions. The vertical rods blend in with the architectural language of the building to not visually compete with ‘Somethinging’. The structure was very precisely tensioned during the installation, and this work has been recognised by the judges as “a well-conceived and expertly executed example of structural engineering supporting public art”.
“Creating a structure of such visual lightness required exceptional control of tension, stability and construction” – Price & Myers
Congratulations to the project team for this worthy nomination. It was a great privilege to work with Lacuna on commissioning the project for the Paddington Square Cultural Strategy and Public Art Programme and to deliver it in close collaboration with RPBW Renzo Piano Building Workshop (architecture), Price & Myers (engineering), The White Wall Company (fabrication), Mtec (installation) and the wider production team. Commissioned by Great Western Developments and Sellar (asset management).
For more information about the artwork’s engineering and the jury’s reflections, click here.
