Projects

San Diego Airport Mosaic Mural

Mosaic mural depicting beachgoers and ocean scene at San Diego Airport.

Day at the Beach — a 38-foot hand-cut mosaic for Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport. Fabricated in our own studio from smalti, vitreous glass and marble.

The brief

Create a calm, sunlit beach scene for an airport waiting area. The composition brings surfers, sailboats, sandcastles and seabirds together across a Pacific horizon.

At 38 feet wide and 6 feet 6 inches tall, the mural required careful translation from artwork into hand-cut glass and marble — with panel joins planned to read as one continuous image.

Beach scene of the mural in progress, the drawing still showing where tesserae are yet to be set
Lifeguard tower, surfer and child with a sand pail, partly tiled over the full-size drawing
The full 38-foot mural laid out on the bench during fabrication
Sunbathers on beach towels with a sailboat and swimmers behind
Numbered paper-faced sections of the mural being set on the terminal wall
A sea turtle riding a wave on a surfboard
A bather in a red swimsuit standing in the shallow surf
A sailboat with red and green sails on blue water
A child in a sun hat filling a pail beside a sandcastle
A red crab mosaic on a marble sand background
A seagull with red feet on marble sand
The finished mural, 38 ft by 6 ft 6 in, in Terminal 1
Design details
Two swimmers floating in inner tubes beside a woman on the beach

Our scope

Mosaiclegs fabricated the mural from supplied artwork. Our scope included color matching, hand-cutting the glass and marble, planning panel breaks, and preparing the numbered layout for the tile contractor.

The artwork remained the designer’s composition. Our role was to translate its figures, color transitions and fine details into a full-scale mosaic.

Fabrication & delivery

A mural this size is not shipped as one piece. We fabricated it in numbered, paper-faced sections, with a panel layout showing the tile contractor where each section belonged.

Installation was handled on site by a tile contractor, not Mosaiclegs. Planning the panel breaks during fabrication allowed the finished wall to read as a continuous composition.

Color palette board for the mural, with glass and marble samples under the design

Project facts

Location: Terminal 1, San Diego International Airport
Artwork: Day at the Beach
Dimensions: 38 feet × 6 feet 6 inches
Materials: Smalti, vitreous glass and marble
Mosaiclegs scope: Mosaic fabrication and numbered panel layout
Delivery: Paper-faced sections for installation by a tile contractor

Your next project

For a lobby, hospitality space or public building, start with the wall dimensions, proposed artwork and project location. We can discuss material options, fabrication scope and the information your installer will need.

Have an existing design? We can review how its scale, color and detail translate into mosaic. Need a new concept? Tell us about the space and the direction you have in mind.

Planning a mosaic mural?

Send the details of your project, or call (323) 389-5347. Studio hours are Monday to Saturday, 8am to 3pm Pacific.

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