The Glass Works was the second phase of BMBC’s ‘Better Barnsley’ programme, developing a new social hub consisting of a public square with flexible space for events, a 13-screen cinema, a multi-storey car park, and restaurant, retail, and leisure destinations.

As part of this ambitious project, Ocmis were approached to design and install several water features; including a dry plaza, a cascade falling into a large pool, then running into a rill complete with white linear lighting. 

The dry plaza jet feature consists of 10 Oase jets and LEDs, all individually controllable to allow endless possibilities in programmable shows for the public to enjoy with dynamic water patterns and choreographed movements thanks to the innovative technology from Oase. Each jet is set with a maximum height of 2 meters, equipped with RGB LEDs allowing the clear water to be illuminated in both the daytime and evenings, with over 16 million possible colour combinations. Although not designed to be an interactive feature, children will be found playing in the dancing jets as the water treatment filtration system continuously filters, monitors and treats the fountain water to ensure it is clean, safe and visually pleasing for all to enjoy without concern. 

Located by the dry plaza, the cascade stands out boldly as a visually striking feature to complement the reimagined public square. Water is pumped into the top pool through a slotted inlet manifold allowing the water to diffuse creating a clear flow over a series of steps into the bottom pool illuminated by subtle LED strips. Once the water has entered the bottom pool it is pumped back into the top pool via a dedicated submersible pump creating a seamless flow, adding to the effect of the cascade. Using our in-house mock-up facility, Ocmis were able to create a mock-up of the cascade to test and demonstrate different water effects to the client to be sure the final product met expectations.  

Several rills are installed along the public pathway leading up to the features, illuminated by LED strips like the lower cascade pool. The water is directly supplied from the bottom pool of the cascade, flowing through the various rills before collecting in a paddling pool at the end which overflows water back to the water storage tank to be filtered and reused.

The entire system is operated by a user-friendly touch screen operator interface, controlled by an Ocmis design and built control panel within the plantroom.