This Commission is part of a wider programme of Public Art at Grange Park, a new residential, retail and community development adjacent to the M1.  The project has created a number of artistic opportunities with the aim of building a unique identity and atmosphere.

 

The concepts for the District Centre support this vision through the integration of a sculptural artwork into the environment.  Other offshoot initiatives have also contributed to the overall design quality of the public spaces, hoping to engender a sense of pride in the development and therefore the whole of Grange Park.   Ideas have been shaped in collaboration with the Design Team, balancing different priorities and taking into account the physicality of the site and stage in the building process. 

 

The progress of the project has been fed back to the local community who have also been involved with temporary initiatives, including the design of the ‘Populating Places’ Shopping Bag Project , helping to build eager anticipation for the District Centre opening.

 

The sculpture consists of two clusters of ‘reed’ forms inhabiting the two focal areas of the District Centre development.  The simple forms populate the paved spaces, creeping across from the soft areas.  Their illuminated seed heads create a magic, both day and night. The tops sway in the wind, accentuating their organic quality, helping to identify the District Centre and Grange Park as a bridge between the rural and the urban.

 

Both clusters have been designed to relate to each other and the surrounding hard and soft landscaping.  Small spots of light in the floorscape appear like seeds scattered, suggesting more could ‘grow’ through the pavement at any time.