LONDON.- A new-look Paddington Bear is now on display behind the scenes at Paddington Station in a mischievous artwork celebrating the building’s rich heritage, created by award-winning art collective acrylicize.

The station’s eponymous bear has been stripped down to his fur in a literal take on the much-loved character (PADDINGTON BARE, 2012). His iconic clothing, including red fisherman’s hat, blue toggle coat and suitcase, are individually housed in a series of acrylic boxes, finally revealing a very bare Paddington, hiding his dignity with his tiny paws.

The artwork is displayed along the walls of The Office Group’s main meeting space, in an area recently refurbished to restore the building’s original character and detailing. The Office Group’s Paddington outpost provides flexible, design-led working and meeting space. For this particular project, there was a keen desire to juxtapose modern art against the backdrop of the Grade I-listed building’s original brick-vaulted ceilings, arches and steel columns.

Under the same roof, acrylicize created an art feature comprised of 2,500 genuine train tickets all with destinations ending at Paddington Station. Collected over the course of one short afternoon at the station, the tickets were then displayed in the form a power button (POWER TO THE PEOPLE, 2012).

James Burke, creative director at acrylicize, headed up The Office Group Paddington commission and said of the concept: ‘When you hear Paddington Station, you immediately think Paddington Bear so we wanted to put a fun twist on this synonymous link. Taking Paddington Bear literally led us to the play on words - Paddington Bare. It was great to work with a client team that enjoyed our sense of mischief on this one.

‘’Power to the People’ is a piece that involves the public, as it’s comprised of their actual journeys in the form of train tickets. We wanted something tailored to the Paddington building and the idea of your work environment inspiring you. We hope to have created a talking point within the space.’

Olly Olsen, co-CEO of The Office Group, said of the new art features: ‘We figure that if you spend the majority of your time in the office, it needs to be a really great place to be. The environment also needs to be stimulating for you and your team and create the right impression on your clients. We feel we've accomplished this with bespoke art pieces that are all about the building you’re in.

‘We’ve worked with acrylicize for a number of years now on several of our offices; they understand the importance we place on the interior design of our spaces and produce fun and unique results. Our ‘Paddington Bare’ has had lots of attention already!’