Beau Little is in the third year of her signmaking apprenticeship, and her skillset and knowledge are exceptional. The job presented here is a project for the Royal New Zealand Navy that she took on from start to finish. These are two information plinths that stand beside carved pou (poles) which hold great cultural and historical significance for the RNZN.

 

As the Devonport Naval Base is a high-security area, Beau went through strict security procedures to gain access. In her first visit, she surveyed the site to establish the positioning of the two plinths and ensure there were no underground services at those locations.

 

Beau designed and made subframes to be concreted into the ground, then cut and welded outer shells – fabricated from 3mm sheet aluminium – to slide over the top. Once Beau had welded the boxes, she meticulously ground all of the welds down to finish the seams. Next she applied the digital prints to all faces.

 

Back on site for installation, Beau dug a hole in the predetermined position beside each pou and inserted the subframes. She mixed the concrete onsite and poured, left it for 48 hours to settle and harden, then returned to site and slid over the fabricated outer shells. These were secured to the in-ground subframes using various fixing methods that she’s learnt in her apprenticeship. Finally she laid the information plaques to the top faces.

 

As is good practise, Beau took away the dug-out dirt, cleaned the site and left it immaculate. We are very proud of Beau’s work on this project and every other job she has her hand in.