‘BALLS!’ commissioned for Arup’s Headquarters in London was created by Interactive Architecture Lab Director Ruairi Glynn and Alma-nac Collaborative Architects — winners of a competition inviting talented, emerging London architects to use interactive architecture to demonstrate the “Future of the Built Environment in the 21st Century”.

The winning design comprised of an array of 42 light emitting spheres robotically puppeteered to rise and fall within Arup’s Headquarter Atrium in response to building activity. A governing digital model and set of physical sensors allow data to be translated to movement and colour. The installation is wirelessly manipulated and responds to inputs such as the current energy consumption within the building, the number of people working in the office, internet traffic intensity, noise from meetings rooms or even how much coffee is being consumed. Rather than the designers predefining the installations full range of behaviour, workshops were run with Arup staff to incorporate their expertise into new repertoires of behaviour to find new types of applications.

‘BALLS!’ featured in the London Festival of Architecture and RIBA Open Studio.