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WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 8 – A CHANGE OF DIRECTION

At the beginning of August 2019 I was issued with a much simplified plan of the public realm proposals by LDS Architects.

August 2019 Public Realm Plan for Winchester Station Approaches. Image: LDS Architects (cropped & annotated).

Above: This image – a cropped version of the plan drawing issued by LDA, shows the principal public realm and station access roads. The previous concept proposal for the public art benches and interpretation following the radial plan as previously illustrated was no longer viable, but the strong horizontal banding across the station forecourt still provided a viable grid and scaffold upon which to set out my ideas.

I have always been in favour of using sandstone as the principle paving material, as this has history with the city, plus in terms of colour and appearance, seems much more sympathetic to the fabric of the site and its low level & undemonstrative railway architecture, rather than big city, corporate use of granite for public realm.

Sandstone Paving – Public Realm, Francis Crick Institute, London. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Stone paving and ceramic tiles from the interior of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping

We could explore the use of varied sizes of paving slab, within a manageable modular framework. The stone paving in the Cathedral for example, exhibits a wide range of slab size, from a small unit square Purbeck Stone tile – which appears to have been the principle paving material – to the larger and unique Ledger (memorial) Stones in Tournai Marble & other stones.

Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Detailed & annotated concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping

Above: Both images explore the possibilities of embedding interpretive Public Art elements within the revised LDS Public Realm proposal – seating, paving and retaining structures bringing an original and creative interpretation to the site. Working within the proposed LDS scheme, seating could be positioned at intervals along the parallel banding, using these lines as the principal interpretive parameters.

Concept study for a cast Iron paving panel with low relief text. Winchester Station Approaches. Image: Christopher Tipping

The key in the plan above outlines the use of:

Sandstone for main paving of the forecourt –

Cast Iron elements with low relief text and / or motifs set within the parallel banding in the paving & an extra wide kerb detail . There were several Iron Foundries in Winchester, which served the Railways –

Porphyry Paving for the primary parallel banding –

Bespoke Benches or ‘Perches’ –

Possible sandblasted, inlaid or etched surface patterns to the sandstone paving – employing super-graphic motifs inspired by the medieval ceramic tiling within the Cathedral –

Granite, Cast Iron, Cast Concrete or Steel defensive barrier structures which can double as seating or ‘perches’, following the radius curve of the highway. These are modelled on cross sections through stone piers in the Cathedral. –

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Black & white motif based upon a medieval ceramic inlaid tile at Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Plan drawings of Winchester Cathedral taken from ‘The Grid System & Design of the Norman Cathedral’ by Eric Fernie.
Pier Sections: Winchester Cathedral. Detail: Section drawings of Transept & Nave Piers of Winchester Cathedral taken from ‘The Grid System & Design of the Norman Cathedral’ by Eric Fernie.
Pier Section study. Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Pier Section studies Winchester Cathedral. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept & site interpretation studies for seating, barrier structures and public art, based upon pier sections from Winchester Cathedral for Winchester Station Approaches public realm. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping
Detail: Concept study proposal for paving and seating within the public realm & approaches of Winchester Station. Artwork: Christopher Tipping
Black & white motif based upon a medieval ceramic inlaid tile at Winchester Cathedral. Used as large scale decoration on a proposal for a monolithic stone bench. Image: Christopher Tipping
A decorative motif based upon a medieval ceramic inlaid tile at Winchester Cathedral. Used as large scale decoration, either inset or sandblasted, on a proposal for a monolithic stone bench. Image: Christopher Tipping

ROCHESTER RIVERSIDE – PUBLIC ART IN PRODUCTION – HARDSCAPE ENGLAND – PART 3

I’m travelling up north to Bolton this week to see the final units completed and hopefully sign off the work so it can be delivered to Rochester Riverside for installation. Can’t wait to see them all.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: “BLUE BOAR CREEK”…& other tales from Rochester Riverside. Detail of a water-jet cut & laser-etched paving panel in black Carlow Limestone with inset text of Amarelo Real (yellow granite) & Porphyry.

These new images are just in this afternoon thanks to Mathew Haslam of Hardscape – as their skilled stone specialists focus on the applied detail. Water jet cutting, inlaying, sandblasting and laser etching their way through 15 bespoke units destined to be embedded into the landscape of the new housing development at Rochester Riverside for client Countryside. This highly bespoke work needs to be handled with care and demands high levels of craft skills.

Hardscape have been excellent at providing this form creative collaboration. Public Art Strategy & Artists Commissions by FrancisKnight .

Below: This unit is 9 of 15 – ‘SHELDUCK’, a Kobra Green Granite base slab with water jet cut inset motif & text in black Carlow Limestone, which has been laser etched with surface detail. Further sandblasting of text into the green granite, will complete the work.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam
Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam
Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: The almost completed ‘WILLIAM CORY & SON LTD’.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: This is the base slab of black Carlow Limestone, which has been laser etched first & then water jet cut – but the large letter ‘W’, the ‘&’ and the diamond motif have yet to be chiselled out. See Below –

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: The water jet cutting removes a series of lines from the granite, which are determined by the CAD programme, which creates the cutting paths. These pathways are interesting in themselves as patterns, but in this instance they have to be chiselled out carefully by hand, to create the void space for the granite inlay to be fixed.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

Above: This images shows the void spaces chiselled out from the Carlow Limestone. The letter ‘W’ in Maple Red granite has already been inset and is awaiting bonding in place – the diamond motif is just about to be inset. These images are wonderful for showing process, craft and the mix of skills from CAD technology to work by hand & eye.

Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam
Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam
Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam
Hardscape’s stone specialists continuing their great work on my bespoke granite public art granite features for Rochester Riverside. Image: Hardscape Mathew Haslam

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 7 – WELCOME TO WINCHESTER

In June 2019 I was issued with early draft plans for the public realm proposals at the Station by LDS Architects on behalf of Winchester City Council. I proposed to add a layer of creative interpretation to these plans, based on my contextual research and employ the setting out details within the LDS plan as a secure foundation into which I could set my public art concept drafts. My proposal was always going to be about utilising the need for paving, seating, retaining walls and other practical details of public realm highways engineering to keep visual clutter at a minimum. This would also be more economic in terms of budget use and future management and maintenance.

Concept & interpretation draft studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Base detail plan drawing by LDS Architects. Image & Colour Artwork by Christopher Tipping

Above: The Station building is on the left of this plan drawing (as seen from above). The plan for the public realm is primarily a sequence of parallel horizontal bands (green) delineated in the paving, which flow downhill from the Station towards City Road and another series which flow uphill along Station Road. However, this baseline geometry is combined with a radial pattern (also in green) which expresses the radius curve in the highway as it transitions from Station Road to Station Hill. This radial pattern provides the anchor for a series of seats (red) and secondary barrier structures (blue). These are concept ideas only – and not designs.

Concept & interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Base plan drawing by LDS Architects. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping

Above: This concept study shows a series of interrelated structures – which could be seating, walls, barrier structures or paving – set out in a radial pattern. These forms are presented as interpretive devices which exhibit combinations of materials and motifs, which seen together in this way embody ideas and responses developed from the contextual research I have undertaken.

Draft form for seating or paving. Terrazzo with exposed polished flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft forms for seating or paving. Terrazzo with exposed polished flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft forms for seating or paving. Monolithic Stone with laminate stone extensions & inset text or applied pattern. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail of Illuminated Initial in Gold. Winchester Bible Illumination. Copyright Winchester Cathedral. Image: John Crook

Above: The Winchester Bible is regarded as the largest & finest 12th century Illuminated Manuscript. The script is by the hand of a single monk scribe from Winchester. However, the magnificent illuminations were often drawn and painted by itinerant artists – lay professionals who travelled between monasteries and centres of learning. These Illuminated Initials have been inspirational, as has the Morley Library, of which the Winchester Bible is a part. Bishop George Morley bequeathed his collection of rare books to the Cathedral in the 17th Century. His collection is also monogrammed.

Draft artwork playing with text & the texture and pattern of knapped flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artwork playing with text as illuminated initials & the texture and pattern of knapped flint. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text as illuminated initials & the texture and pattern of Winchester building materials. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Polished flint terrazzo circle with inset letter ‘W’ in Swedish Marble with sandblasted detail, resin bonded in white.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Plan study (meaning ‘seen from above’)of a monolithic sandstone bench with a flat seating surface with the inset letter W and Circle motifs in flint aggregate terrazzo. Below: Sandstone & Flint are primary building materials in Winchester.

Sandstone is a primary building stone of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
There is one sample of Swedish Marble in Winchester Cathedral. A Ledger Stone for the daughter of Sir John Clobery. Image: Christopher Tipping

“Of particular interest is the ledger stone (memorial) of Francisca Clobery, the daughter of Sir John Clobery. She died in 1683 and her grave is in the south aisle of the Retrochoir, in front of her father’s monument. It is of a distinctive Ordovician limestone (around 465 million years ago) from the Island of Öland, Sweden, containing the straight-shelled Nautiloid.” from ‘Winchester Stone’ by Dr John Parker 2016. ‘John Parker studied geology at Birmingham and Cambridge universities. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. For over 30 years he worked as an exploration geologist for Shell around the world. He has lived in Winchester since 1987. On retirement he trained to be a Cathedral guide’. John has personally shown me around the Cathedral and pointed out many geologic wonders and quirks.

190507 BENCH laminated 1 Winchester Station Approaches. Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Studies for objects (seating?) in Timber, Sandstone and Swedish Marble employing techniques of inlay, lamination, polishing and sandblasting.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and the richness of architectural decoration & materials found in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: Study for two concept benches in monolithic black Tournai Marble with inlaid detail and laminated stone additions of Swedish Marble.

Ledger stone of black Tournai Marble with carving in Winchester Cathedral. Winchester Station Approaches. Christopher Tipping
Detail: Carved figures from the 12th Century Tournai Marble Font. The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

I hope to investigate manufacturing processes which allow stone to be cut, laminated, decorated and finished in a manner which embodies the richness of the Cathedral interiors and it’s ongoing repair and regeneration – BUT – in a functional manner, either as seating etc or as a method of improving wayfinding for visitors.

Draft artworks playing with text, texture and referencing the richness of architectural decoration & materials in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Concept & creative interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping
Concept & creative interpretation studies for seating and public art for Winchester Station Approaches. Image & Artwork by Christopher Tipping

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 6 – STATION HILL – A LOCAL HISTORY

Station Hill leads up to Winchester Train Station from the busy junction of Stockbridge Road, City Road, Andover Road and Sussex Street. Swan Lane also joins here. The site has been historically known as Carfax, meaning the meeting of roads. The Carfax Hotel, formerly on the site now occupied by the Hampshire Records Office took its name from this historic site. The Masterplan proposals for this whole site, developed by Winchester City Council’s Consultants Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Architects, is referred to as the Carfax Site. and incorporates the Station Approaches & public realm.

Winchester Station and environs. Annotated by me to show Streets and Roads. Image: Copyright Google Earth
A page referencing the history and standing of Station Hill and the Train Station taken from the Cultural Heritage Assessment for Station Approach, Winchester, by Elaine Milton, Heritage and Planning. Winchester City Council 2015
Station Hill 1909. Winchester Station Approach project. A local community. Images: Christopher Tipping Collection
Station Hill, Winchester. Winchester Station Approach project. A local community. Image: Copyright:Facebook.com/Oldwinchesterphotos/. Station Hill 1976.
Station Hill, Winchester. Winchester Station Approach project. A local community. Image: geograph – 4303039Photo © Jaggery (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Station Hill today doesn’t give much away about it’s local community or life as a lively neighbourhood, but this wasn’t always the case.

I will try to add to this post throughout the project as new research throws up characters and stories.

A page referencing the history and standing of Station Hill, the Train Station and environs taken from the Cultural Heritage Assessment for Station Approach, Winchester, by Elaine Milton, Heritage and Planning. Winchester City Council 2015
Warren's Street Directory 1890 Ref: H 042.27 Hampshire Archives & Local Studies, Winchester.
Station Hill, Winchester. Warren’s Street Directory 1890 – Ref: H 042.27. Hampshire Archives and Local Studies, Sussex Street, Winchester.

Above: Warren’s Street Directories, held in the Hampshire Records Office on our doorstep, lists street by street, almost everyone who lived at each residential property. If this was a business, then it lists the nature of the business, as well as the people who owned it. A wonderful archive. The books also contain the most interesting advertising for local products and services, mostly & brilliantly illustrated.

Carfax Hotel, Station Hill & Sussex Street, Winchester.Date unknown. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Winchester City Trust.
Description of the Carfax Hotel by Barry Taylor from The Lost Pubs Project. http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/hampshire/winchester_carfaxhotel.html
Hampshire Archives and Local Studies. Sussex Street, Winchester. This building replaced the old Carfax Hotel. Image: Winchester City Council
AUTOWORK , (Winchester)Ltd. Station Hill, Winchester. Date Unknown. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Winchester City Council
Station Hill looking down towards Sussex Street and Swan Lane. Date unknown. Winchester Station Approaches Project. Image: Winchester City Council.
Station Hill, Winchester. 1902 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Roger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. This brilliant model was made in the 1980’s and took 9 years to complete. Image: Christopher Tipping. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

The Train Station is seen above in the bottom left quadrant. Roger Brown’s model was based on the OS Map of 1873. Roger had been a Planning Officer for Winchester City Council.

Some key building are still extant , such as the Station and the South Western Inn, formerly the Railway Refreshment Inn – & up until 2015, Winchester Register Office. The Carfax Hotel is visible on the junction of Station Hill & Sussex Street. The terraced houses of Gladstone Street are there too, but the Reservoirs of the Sussex Brewery, seen on the OS Map of 1870 now appear to be allotment gardens. Needs a bit more investigating to discover what the reservoirs were for. I can’t find any reference to the Sussex Brewery.

The original Railway Refreshment Inn opposite the Station, was up until 2015 the Winchester Register Office at No.6 Station Hill. Image: Christopher Tipping
Roger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

Above: A bit blurry…but nonetheless the Station and Public House are clearly shown. A narrow footpath leads to Sussex House just beyond the Station in this image. A lovely circular garden feature can also be seen just left of the Station forecourt behind a fence. I wonder if this was a public or private space?

Roger Brown’s Model of Winchester circa 1873. Copyright: City of Winchester Museum.

Above; At centre is the Carfax Hotel building on Station Hill and Sussex Street. This important crossroads, (or Carfax), shows a complex junction of City Road, Swan Lane, Station Hill, Andover Road and Sussex Street. Looking rather genteel – and not the complicated crossing for pedestrians we experience today.

Station Hill, Winchester. 1914 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Station Hill, Winchester. 1930 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.
Station Hill, Winchester. 1939 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.

By 1970, the Carfax Hotel, first named in 1918, had fallen into disrepair during the 1960’s. It had been taken over by the King Alfred Teacher Training College as student accommodation. However, it was demolished in 1972 as part of a road improvement scheme.

Station Hill, Winchester. 1970/71 Warren’s Street Directory. Image: Hampshire Archives and Local Studies.

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 5 – PATTERNS IN PAVING ?

A short post on patterns of paving, used externally in the City streets. These images are a simple & straightforward record of paving and materials used in highway engineering and the public realm in Winchester. What I am interested in is the variation and the happenstance, which occurs between pattern, materials and textures. The ordinary and mundane, boring ?…no ! Some richness and patterns emerge, often as a result of repair & regeneration. Interesting to note changes at thresholds and edges. Old and new side by side. They are perhaps not the most exciting of images – but for those of you who look down to see & care about what you are walking on – you too may also see something that inspires you, as I have been inspired.

Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Winchester Station Approach project. Station Hill. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Outside Winchester Museum. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. High Street. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in the streets of Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe
Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe

…and finally – all roads lead to the Cathedral.

Winchester Station Approach project. Paving patterns and materials used in Winchester. Images: Christopher Tipping & Dave Lowe

winchester station approach – Part 4 – Materials, ABSTRACTION & PATTERNS

The image above is a detail of the beautifully carved ebony black polished stone 12th Century font, with its depiction of the miracles of St Nicholas. It is without doubt one of the Cathedral’s greatest treasures. It was brought from Tournai, in modern day Belgium. It has been in use ever since. It is astonishingly fresh and wonderful.

The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping

It isn’t too hard to find odd and quirky combinations of both mundane & exotic materials and examples of spectacular & naive decorative arts and crafts side by side in Winchester, especially in the Cathedral. Almost one thousand years of continual occupation of this religious site bears witness to an unbroken architectural legacy, one that is brimful of odd juxtapositions, exotic materials, renewed or replaced fabric, scratched graffiti, vandalism and destruction. Like walking through a time-warp. Robust Norman Romanesque Architecture to Perpendicular Gothic in one step. Swedish Marble to Purbeck Stone in another. Extant 13th Century inlaid ceramic floor tiles to 1960’s replicas. Striking thresholds crossed mixing time and material, yet the experience is not jarring or disjointed. Time itself has softened these transitions and blurred the edges.

I am continually cherry picking from the world around me, plucking at things, tucking things away for later – like a squirrel, gathering nuts for winter or in the manner of a herbivore, continually grazing, & chewing the cud. I am gathering visual information – an extraordinary cabinet of curiosity in my mind. Certain things catch my attention, whilst others pass me by. This eclectic meander is not a considered or deliberate creative manoeuvre. It is innate. It is my pattern of speech, it is my handwriting. It simply is.

A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping

SANDSTONE – FLINT – LIMESTONE – EBONY BLACK TOURNAI MARBLE – HAND MADE BRICK – OAK TIMBERS – INLAID CERAMIC TILES – MONOLITHIC GRANITE – CAST IRON – GUN METAL – CARVED OAK – STAINED GLASS – WINDOW TRACERY – LEAD

The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
An abstract mash-up of the decorative building materials & styles of Winchester mixed with my own ‘Winchester inspired’ patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials & memorials of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Abstract drawings based on knapped flints, one of the building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
Abstract drawings based on knapped flints, one of the building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
The building materials of Winchester. Image: Christopher Tipping
An abstract mash-up of the decorative building materials & styles of Winchester mixed with my own ‘Winchester inspired’ patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping
A mash-up of the decorative building materials of Winchester & my own patterns. Image: Christopher Tipping

Rochester riverside – public art in production – hardscape england – part 2 –

Oh my word…we’re on a roll in production up at Hardscape in Bolton.

These images are hot off the press, as skilled stone specialists at Hardscape focus on the applied detail. Water jet cutting, inlaying, sandblasting and laser etching their way through 15 bespoke units destined to be embedded into the landscape of the new housing development at Rochester Riverside for client Countryside Properties. This work needs to be handled with care and demands high levels of craft skills. Hardscape have been excellent at providing creative collaboration .

Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
Artwork for bespoke detailed granite Public Art Unit ‘WALRUS & NELLIE’ in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This is the ‘&’ from ‘WALRUS & NELLIE’. Water jet cut into a slab of Red Shiraz Granite 900mm x 300mm x75mm. It is awaiting the inlaying of the circle of yellow Amarelo Real Granite. It looks amazing. WALRUS & NELLIE were the names of two portable aggregate conveyors loading stone and cobbles on and off barges at Cory’s Wharf, Blue Boar Hard.

Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape

Above: This is the laser etched ‘DUNLIN A SALTMARSH BIRD’, , waiting to be water jet cut from its slab of beautiful Carlow Limestone & inset into a slab of red granite. See image below, where the DUNLIN has been partially cut out from the block in concentric linear patterns. This is a complex unit, with other letters inlaid. Precision is key. These beautifully crafted objects embedded in the landscape, will be a gentle reminder of the natural, social and industrial history of the site.

Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
Detail: ‘DUNLIN A MARSHLAND BIRD’. Bespoke granite water jet cut motifs. Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
Artwork for ‘DUNLIN’. This motif is to be Laser Etched onto a Carlow Limestone slab, then cut out and inlaid into a red Shiraz slab. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for bespoke detailed granite Public Art Unit ‘DUNLIN A MARSHLAND BIRD” in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
’15 BARGES STARTED THE RACE 1930′. Sandblasting underway with delicate handling of the vinyl stencils required. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
’15 BARGES STARTED THE RACE 1930′. Sandblasting underway with delicate handling of the vinyl stencils required. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
Artwork for ’15 BARGES STARTED THE RACE 1930′.Bespoke detailed granite in Kobra Green & Shiraz. Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
‘RUSSET BROWN & OCHRE SAILS’. Sandblasting underway with delicate handling of the vinyl stencils required. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
Artwork for ‘RUSSET BROWN & OCHRE SAILS’.Bespoke detailed granite in Kobra Green, Amarelo Real & Shiraz. Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
‘SPRITSAIL BARGES’ & ‘FIVE BROTHERS’. . Sandblasting underway with delicate handling of the vinyl stencils required. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
‘SPRITSAIL BARGE’ . Detailed sandblasting underway with delicate handling of the vinyl stencils required throughout. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape
Drawing of a Spritsail Barge, used on the River Medway and of a type originally built on our site at Rochester Riverside in the 19th Century. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for ‘SPRITSAIL BARGES’. Bespoke detailed granite in Kobra Green, Amarelo Real & Shiraz. Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for ‘THE FIVE BROTHERS”. Bespoke detailed granite in Kobra Green, Amarelo Real & Shiraz. Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
‘SHELDUCK’. Laser Etching of a Shelduck on a Carlow Limestone slab underway with delicate handling of the detail required. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Hardscape

The laser etched image of the Shelduck will now be water jet cut out of the Carlow slab and the motif inlaid into a slab of Kobra Green Granite, which has the shape of the bird already cut into the surface.

Interesting to note also that the Carlow Limestone has beautiful fossil shells embedded. Also note that these are not my feet, they probably belong to Pedro, who is overseeing and also working on my project. Without skilled people like this, I would be lost !

Artwork for ‘SHELDUCK’. This motif is to be Laser Etched onto a Carlow Limestone slab. Bespoke detailed granite Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for ‘SHELDUCK’. Bespoke detailed granite in Kobra Green & Carlow Limestone. Public Art Units in production at Hardscape England, Logistics North, Bolton for Rochester Riverside and client Countryside Properties. Image: Christopher Tipping

ROBERT WHITE CANCER CENTRE – RADIOTHERAPY OUTPATIENTS – PART 3

Always a relief to see projects get to this stage ! The printing has started ! Swift Signs in Weymouth are now in production of the glazing vinyl artworks for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit. Install is scheduled for next week. Watch this space !

Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for Radiotherapy Outpatients at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs
Digital Printing in action. Glazing Vinyl for the Radiotherapy Outpatients Unit at the Robert White Cancer Centre being printed at Swift Signs in Weymouth, Dorset. Image: Swift Signs

WINCHESTER STATION APPROACH – PART 3 – Lessons from history

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

Winchester Cathedral Great West Window and Lierne Vaulted nave. Image: Christopher Tipping

Have you ever thought what is up there, caught between the vaulted ceiling and the external roof? It was this hidden void in the attic, described as ‘a forest‘ , which so disastrously burned at Notre Dame in April this year. On Wednesday 19th June this year I ventured up the Tower of Winchester Cathedral to reach the same space. I have really wanted to venture into this cavernous space – between the 14th & 15th Century vaulted nave we see in the image above and the original massive timbered roof for years. This complex structure is what pilgrims and locals would have seen & looked up into prior to the nave being constructed. It is the most amazing floating world – a dark void – a medieval secret.

Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This is the timber walkway inside the void space, which sits atop the massive oak beams which cross the nave . The walkway disappears into the bell tower and Norman part of the Cathedral. Images do not do this space justice! This is the longest Medieval Cathedral nave in Europe. The Lierne Vaulted ceiling of the nave lies just below the cross beam timbers.

Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Human touches in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. There is a story to this image, but I have forgotten it ! Image: Christopher Tipping
Human touches – centuries of scratched graffiti decorate the stone window tracery in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Human touches – centuries of scratched graffiti decorate the stone window tracery in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
It got in but didn’t get out. Racing Pigeon in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral. Image: Christopher Tipping
Massive Oak timbers in the roof void of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
The bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Details in the bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Details in the bell ringing chamber of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

‘The cathedral possesses the only diatonic ring of fourteen church bells in the world. The back twelve were all cast by John Taylor & Co in 1937. They were augmented to fourteen when two new bells were added in 1992 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. ‘One bell was cast by Anthony Bond, an itinerant Founder in 1621.’ Wikipedia Ref

Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up in the Bell Tower of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Above: This image shows Norman stone carving high up in the Bell Tower. Quite amazing to get so close to it. The stonemason’s tool marks so fresh still.

Interesting patches and and repairs to the lead sheeting up on the roof of Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping
Up on the roof – the views are pretty spectacular. Winchester Cathedral Image: Christopher Tipping

Robert White Cancer Centre – Radiotherapy Outpatients – Part 2

It’s taken a while to get to this point – but the artworks were signed off for production a few weeks ago and have now been printed by Swift Signs Ltd & are awaiting installation at the Robert White Centre, Radiotherapy Unit at Dorchester Hospital.

Here are a few images of the final artworks – it may help to know that any white used in the design does not print – and remains completely clear – bringing the outside in and extending the impact of the work to the external landscape beyond the clinical spaces. The colours also vary in transparency and opacity, so do not appear anywhere near as flat and opaque as they do in the artwork – which is a good thing right? I thinks so…

Detail: Glazing Vinyl Artwork for the Robert White Centre, Radiotherapy Outpatients. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artworks for a series of windows in Clinical Rooms along a corridor in the Robert White Centre, Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Glazing Vinyl Artwork for the Robert White Centre, Radiotherapy Outpatients. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Glazing Vinyl Artwork for the Robert White Centre, Radiotherapy Outpatients. Image: Christopher Tipping
Detail: Glazing Vinyl Artwork for the Robert White Centre, Radiotherapy Outpatients. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artworks for the Clothed Waiting Room and External Lobby of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping

The top and bottom screen elevations work together as two adjacent spaces, where the designs overlap. Anything printed white here is actually completely clear and does not print. so you could imagine these two images combining with the external landscape.

Artworks for the Clothed Waiting Room & Reception of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artworks for the External Lobby of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artworks for the Staff Meeting Room of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for the window of Clinic Room W004 of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for the window of Clinic Room W005 of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for the window of Clinic Room W001 of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for the window of Clinic Room W003 of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping
Artwork for the window of Clinic Room W002 of the Robert White Centre, Ground Floor Radiotherapy Outpatients, Glazing Vinyl Artworks. Image: Christopher Tipping