The timber seating units for The Gate – a set of 6 radius benches with cnc routed text – are currently being installed at the Central Chelmsford site. The benches are being manufactured by City Squared in Leeds & installed by Ground Control. The designs were developed in collaboration with City Squared. The cnc routed text refers to the history, location and memory of the space & is defined by the adjacency of the Anne Knight Building, which has been refurbished & is considered the anchor building of the development site.
The draft designs for the digitally printed vinyl manifestations to the glazed curtain wall at CentralChelmsford was approved some time ago, but I have omitted to post any images for some obscure reason !
Here they are ! –
In a similar approach as that adopted for my recent manifestation project at Sheffield Hallam University, which is a print-white only process, layering transparent & opaque detail onto optically clear vinyl. This project is being delivered in collaboration with VGL Ltd
507 new homes as well as retail and offices will make up the new development. The project is delivering a blueprint for a new community in Chelmsford.
The site has a number of key buildings once part of Anglia Ruskin University, which are being partly or wholly retained and refurbished. These are the Frederick Chancellor Building of 1905 and the Law Building of 1931.
One of the most historic & resonant as well as the earliest buildings on the site is the Grade II listedAnne Knightbuilding, a former Friends Meeting House from 1824. Named after one of Chelmsford’s most distinguished women, Anne Knight 1786 – 1862.
The view of The Gate with its blue black brick curved elevation. This area is intended as a public open space, extending the forecourt and public realm of Chelmsford Station. The ground floor elevations are glazed and the interiors will be used as retail and food outlets.
Looking South, through the aperture into The Place. The elevation of The Gate is dynamic & brooding. The crisp detailing is pared down. A facade of cantilevered black balconies appear to jut out from deep into the interior of the building from recessed windows.
Looking south towards Central Park through The Place. The main pedestrian route will be on the left of this image, with the remaining site will be landscaped as a formal courtyard garden for residents and visitors alike
The view north, towards the Station from within The Place
These are both samples of text to be used in the interpretive artwork which is embedded throughout the site. The sample on the left is York Stone with inset water jet cut grey granite, by Ashfield Ltd. Inset text such as this is used for step risers at the south of the site. The sandblasted sample on the right is part of a Royal Green granite paving supplied by Hardscape , called The Stream which runs continuously through the site north to south. Both interventions are based on contextual and site specific research I undertook.
Ashfield Ltd released some images of sample details for the York Stone steps with inset granite text. All looking very good & can’t wait to see a finished step. The text is in a mid grey honed granite. When wet this will become darker and much more of a contrast to the York Stone. Hopefully Ashfield will issue more images as the works progress.
The Central Chelmsford development has been in progress on site since 2012. I was commissioned to join the team as project artist in January of this year.
You can hear more on the project via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orYUpbnacis
The site has a number of key buildings which were once a part of of Anglia Ruskin University. 507 new homes as well as retail and offices will make up the new development. The project is delivering a new community in Chelmsford.
One of the most historic & resonant as well as the earliest buildings on the site is the Grade II listed Anne Knight building, a former Friends Meeting House from 1824. Named after one of Chelmsford’s most distinguished women, Anne Knight 1786 – 1862. Anne Knight was a Quaker and a stalwart Anti Abolitionist, attending the World Anti Slavery Convention meeting held in London in 1840. Her views and correspondence on women’s rights led to her publishing what is considered to be the very first leaflet on women’s suffrage in 1847.
I have also responded to the landscape plans and architectural flow & rhythm of the site as well exploring how the various elements & spaces of the site are navigated and used by pedestrians. As the hub of a new community, the communal areas of the development are important places for people to take ownership of.
As well as collaborating with the project team I am also working and collaborating with several manufacturers and specialist contractors such as Hardscape, Ashfield Ltd & City Squared on elements of paving, seating and steps throughout the site, where interventions will be made via cnc routed text into timber and water jet cut and sandblasted granite.