Bronze Drain Covers for Thames Tideway

Pentagram’s Marina Willer and team were commissioned by Thames Tideway to design a set of bronze plaques that double as drain covers for thirteen new riverside public spaces in London. Each cover uses two overlapping discs of linear patterning to create a liquid-like moiré effect referencing the River Thames and London’s cultural mix. The project uses Doves Type, a typeface with a documented history connected to the Thames, and includes a one-off cover for Abbey Mills Pumping Station that responds to its ornate Victorian interior. Arch Bronze Foundry hand-cast each plaque in sand, then polished and finished the metal to reveal its detail.

Set in Doves Type