This unique sculpture was commissioned by the proud owners of a swish five bedroom penthouse built in a converted Victorian water tower at the old St Pancras Station, London. Mark was actually approached by their Interior Designer to make a one off bespoke piece, they wanted a table that would reflect the history of the building they lived in. They intended that every item they had within the Penthouse would come from a British designer and specified they wanted a table designed by Mark Stoddart.
The station had undergone a major regeneration project transforming the King’s Cross area and St Pancras International has replaced Waterloo as the new home of Eurostar.
It was decided that a train coffee table would be perfect. Mark did a lot of research into Midland Line and eventually tracked down the blueprints for the Prince of Wales train, a once magnificent train from the early 1900’s which unfortunately no longer existed. A customer of Mark’s created a miniature model of the train, Mark then went on to create a model of the train at the size it would be for the table in wood. Wood is much better for creations of this style as it lends itself to detail, sharp angles and smooth finishes more than clay does. Mark decided to position the train with the viaduct on a gradient to create interest and make it appear as though the train was climbing up through clouds as it broke through the glass of the table.
The finished tabled was positioned as a focal feature in the centre of the huge living room of the penthouse. It took 6 men to install it due to its sheer weight, carrying it up eight stories before they could assemble it. The customers were thrilled with the completed table, it had exceeded what they had envisaged when they first placed the commission.
