Designer Samantha Drummond hoped her installation at the luxurious Solaire Resort – a remarkable glass sculpture called Mangrove – would inspire people. Today the towering monument is not only a breathtakingly beautiful artwork, it has also been officially recognised as the world’s largest glass tube installation.

Standing a remarkable eight storeys or 28 metres tall, Mangrove is now the centrepiece of the Philippines’ first five-star integrated resort, the recently completed Solaire Resort North in Quezon City, Metro Manila. It was commissioned by Drummond, founder of the Habitus Design Group and fabricated by glass artist Nikolas Weinstein.

While Drummond was intent on utilising nature and organic form, she also knew that scale would be critical as the artwork would sit under a soaring 30-metre-high atrium in the heart of the resort. “This sculpture had to do more than impress—it needed to inspire,” says Drummond. “We envisioned a living, breathing structure, one that reaches for the sky like a tree and transforms with the light.”

As its name suggests, the sculpture evokes the intricate root systems of native mangrove trees. Designed to draw the eye upwards toward natural light, the immersive environment of arching glass branches invites visitors to engage from every angle and height – walking beneath, around, alongside, and through its sweeping glass curves.

As light interacts with the glass, Mangrove continuously shifts in tone and texture—casting kaleidoscopic reflections and shadows that evolve throughout the day and night. This dynamic interplay between natural and built environments speaks to the heart of the resort’s urban oasis concept, fusing art and architecture.

Mangrove also represents a remarkable feat of engineering and construction. It consists of more than 16,000 individually cut and hand-formed borosilicate glass tubes, woven together on-site using over 25 kilometres of structural cabling. Shipped in five containers and assembled over six months by a peak crew of 40, the structure is as technically complex as it is visually mesmerizing.

Given that the integrity of the structure in the earthquake-prone Philippines was so crucial, leading global consultancy Arup was enlisted to ensure the installation could withstand seismic conditions. Innovative structural solutions were developed, with over 11 kilometres of borosilicate glass tubing interwoven onsite with aircraft cables, wire and modular stainless-steel spines, to create a form that is both dynamic and structurally resilient.

So, it was probably no surprise that in July this year, Mangrove was certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest glass tube installation.

Four years in development and construction, the sculpture reflects an extraordinary, interdisciplinary collaboration between the artist, the designer and the client, and the design development, engineering, lighting and manufacturing teams.

For Samantha Drummond, a former judge in the PERSPECTIVE A&D Awards, it is a culmination of her vision. Unquestionably, Mangrove is truly inspirational.