Victory in a Bottle rolls on

After 18 months on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, Yinka Shonibare’s scale model of Nelson’s HMS Victory in a Bottle is moving to a new home.

The British artist’s work will be removed from Trafalgar Square in January, before being moved to its permanent location outside the new wing at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, providing enough funds can be raised.

With the bottle exposed to all seasons at its original home in central London, Max Fordham was asked to work out how to stop condensation obscuring the view of the ship and how to protect the materials that the bottle and the artwork are made of. We also devised the lighting to best display the work.

Project Engineer David Segall says the whole brief changes with this move to a new location.

"We have more freedom because we are working on locating the structure in a permanent location, but every location has its own problems that we'll have to solve."

The bottle was created as part of the Fourth Plinth programme, which features world-class contemporary artworks in the public realm. This artwork was the first to reflect specifically on the historical symbolism of Trafalgar Square.

For more information take a look at our project page or visit the Fourth Plinth website. To donate funds visit the National Maritime Museums appeal page.