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 ! –
Draft artwork for digitally printed vinyl to main entrance screen and lobby
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
Detail: Digitally printed vinyl manifestation to the glazed entrance lobby screen
Detail: Digitally printed vinyl manifestation to the glazed entrance lobby screen
Detail: Digitally printed vinyl manifestation to the glazed entrance lobby screen
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.
Anne Knight was a Quaker and a stalwart Anti Abolitionist, one of very few women to attend the World Anti Slavery Convention meeting held in London in 1840. She would have attended this Quaker Meeting House, now named after her. This is the key anchor building on site.The refurbished Anne Knight Building with new public realm
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.
Tuesday 16th September 2014, Oxford Churchill Hospital, DTU, Cancer Centre I came up to Oxford today to review the installation of the wall-covering artwork along with VGL and the Trust Arts Coordinator, Ruth Charity. The DTU is an oncology & haematology day unit delivering chemotherapy & other cancer related treatments. The staff delivering this service are the most dedicated and hardworking group of people. How they have made time to collaborate and input into this project has been truly brilliant and a pertinent and sharp reminder that projects such as this succeed because of a positive buy in & contribution by staff and stakeholders alike. The work is created around a central core ‘island’ of offices and consulting rooms about which day treatment chemotherapy services are delivered. Most of the chairs and beds face onto this central island, meaning that most patients spend hours at a time over many weeks or even years staring at dull, blank walls, during treatment, rather than out of the windows behind them, which incidentally are too high to see through. A concept approach was developed to change this dull & monotonous view into a contemplative and softly illuminated abstract vista, interrupted by the suggested shadows of overhanging branches and foliage with dappled light breaking through.
Corridor linking Chemotherapy Waiting Room to Oncology day treatment roomHaematology treatment spaceNurse Station
Patient and visitor drinks stationCorridor linking Oncology day treatment space with the Chemotherapy waiting roomHaematology treatment space nurse stationDetail: Patient & visitor drinks stationHaematology treatment space nurse stationDetailDetailDetailDetail with penguinsDetailOncology treatment space main nurse stationHand wash stationOncology nurse station – Detail of wall coveringHaematology treatment space – Detail of wall covering
Tuesday 16th September 2014Southampton A brief site visit today to review the installation of ‘Canal Shore’, as part of the Phase 1 works on the Station Quarter North Project in Southampton managed by Balfour Beatty Living Places for Southampton City Council. This is one of the more direct outcomes of the interpretive and contextual work that I did which was intended to ‘influence’ the design process throughout the project. The project as a whole however is a collaborative process and I have worked with many others in the realisation of this work.
Mr Thankful Joy was landlord of the Railway Tavern on Blechynden Terrace from 1884 to 1890
‘Mr Thankful Joy – Landlord of the Railway Tavern 1884 – 1890. Bombed 22nd June 1940’
Thankful Joy: born 1836 – died 1913, aged 78, Market Gardener of Shirley. Father – Thankful Joy – also a Market Gardener Births & Marriages Records SCC Archives The Railway Tavern aka West Station Tavern, was situated at No 12 Blechynden Terrace. 17 Public Houses have graced the local area over the last 100 years. There were also many beer retailers too. To counter this, a number of Temperance Hotels & Houses were established. ‘Southampton Inns & Taverns’. Tony Gallaher 1988. SCC Archives Ref: C4 / 1861 Census & Kelly’s Directory 1877.
The ‘Heart of Oak’ Public House was on nearby Hill Street. The whole street was demolished in the 1960’s to make way for Wyndham CourtIn 1847, Lady Charlotte Fitzroy lived at No 1 Blechynden Terrace
‘In 1847 Lady Charlotte Fitzroy lived at No 1 Blechynden Terrace. Joseph Hill, Surveyor, lived at No. 6’
In 1847 No.1 Blechynden Terrace was a large detached villa to the south of the current carriageway at the bottom of Kingsbridge Lane. Its ornamental gardens ran down to the shoreline of the Test Estuary. These eventually became the goods yard for the railway as the land was reclaimed from the sea.
Looking east along Blechynden Terrace towards Kingsbridge Lane & the Civic Centre
‘Wyndham Court is a Brutalist building’
Wyndham Court is a block of social housing in Southampton, England. It was designed by Lyons Israel Ellis for Southampton City Council in 1966, and is located near Southampton Central Station and the Mayflower Theatre. Wyndham Court includes 184 flats, three cafes or restaurants and 13 shops, and was completed in 1969. The building replaced the original dense footprint of small streets and courts, which had remained unchanged on this site since pre-1846. The area was badly bombed during Southampton’s blitz & never recovered. Architecturally, it is suggested that the form of Wyndham Court evokes cruise ships, which sailed from the nearby Port of Southampton. English Heritage described its irregular facades as “sculptural and expressive” & the architects’ use of white concrete was intended to be sympathetic to older civic buildings, which dominate the city centre.
‘…the kerb edge marks the route of the Southampton & Salisbury Canal…an ill-fated venture 1795 – 1808’
The carriageway of Blechynden Terrace is generally understood to be the filled in canal basin of the Southampton & Salisbury Canal. The original villas along Blechynden Terrace, destroyed by bombing during WWII, were built in 1830 along the edge of the now filled-in basin. ‘The Bankrupt Canal’. 1795-1808. Yellow Southampton Papers No.5
‘it was so busy at weekends there was no room to sit down at high tide…’
Pre-1847 & the coming of the railway, the area was described as ‘Southampton’s Riviera’. REF.16/7/82 HS.h. History Localities. SCC Libraries & Archives. Local History & Maritime.
Looking west along Blechynden Terrace, with Wyndham Court on the right hand side, towards Southampton Central Station on the left. This was the historic shoreline of the River Test Estuary.
Tuesday, August 2nd 2014 – Collegiate Crescent, Sheffield Hallam University. Today I attended on site to review the Phase 1 glazing manifestation artwork installations for myself and meet with VGL who were on site to view the works in tandem with the main contractor, Graham Construction. I was also meeting with the University Clients to review the final scope for the Phase 2 installation of artwork. The building now appears to be semi open for use – but still going through various procedures and protocols, I suppose to ensure all goes smoothly once the mass of students arrive later this month! Great not to have to gear up with PPE. The building is looking amazing. Graham & HLM have done a wonderful job. External landscape is almost completed. The East Elevation of the building has an amazing aspect. It was a clear blue-sky day with lots of sun, which are good conditions for looking at the manifestations, as they are more likely to cast great shadows, which add considerably to the impact and variation within the works.
Sheffield Hallam University, Collegiate CrescentAs seen from Crescent RoadCNC routed West Elevation rain screen
The West Elevation rain screen is really quite reflective in strong sun. Athough this is a painted grey finish, it is glossy and can appear metallic. The exposed Rockpanel material beneath the colour coat has now really darkened from the earlier yellow colour. The surface is more subtle, but richer in appearance. The impact is muted from afar, but the details really begin to emergeon the approach.
The Western Entrance off Broomgrove Road is now almost completed. Some final touches to the landscaping will see this completed. As you pass through the entrance doors, the interior quickly opens out onto the central atrium, which is spectacular. The glazing manifestation artwork can be clearly seen.
Entering the atrium space and hub of the building, with the main reception on the right and the Main East Entrance straight ahead, you can just start to make out the glazing installation. If you turn to the left, this is what you see….The central atrium space as seen from Level 1
This is the three storey central atrium space and ‘Heart of the Campus’. The client had originally commissioned artwork manifestations to much of the visible glazing, but on reflection, the transparency and legibility of the interior spaces & architectural form may have been compromised and it was decided to omit them from the project. The artwork manifestations to the ground floor exterior curtain wall glazing, linking the East and North entrances, is still being commissioned as the Phase 2 works.
Shadows cast by the artwork manifestation add another dimension to the work and come and go with the sun.
This image shows the artwork applied to the interior glazed lobby, with the central atrium space just visible on the left.
In bright sunlight, shadows are cast form the manifestation to carry across structural elements such as glazing screen frames and supporting columns. This interplay extends the range and impact of the artwork.The East Elevation Main Entrance doors are automatic and the manifestations cross and overlap as the doors open, creating yet another pattern.
North Entrance glazed elevation with applied artwork manifestations.Detail of digitally printed artwork to glazing manifestations. North Entrance glazed screen.East Elevation glazed screen with applied artwork manifestations. This is the main entrance and interior lobby area with reception.Seen from the open balcony areas of Level 1, the North Elevation Entrance artwork can be clearly seen.East Entrance interior lobby space.
Tuesday 26th August 2014 Several images of the installation have just come in from VGL ‘s installers. These are low res images. I will be making a trip up to Sheffield in the next week or so to review the site prior to the Phase 2 works being undertaken. I will hopefully get more detailed images too !
Interior of the east elevation main entrance screenEast elevationEast elevationEast elevationInterior view of north elevation entrance screen
Tuesday 26th August Glazing manifestation artworks for the ‘Heart of the Campus’ building, for Sheffield Hallam University, Collegiate Campus. DIGITALLY PRINTED WHITE INKS OVERLAIN IN OPAQUE & TRANSPARENT LAYERS ONTO OPTICALLY CLEAR VINYL . Phase 1 of the installation by VGL has now completed, but I have yet to get images of the completed works on site. The following images are of the approved production artwork for Phase 1. We are now awaiting confirmation that the Phase 2 project will be put into production.
Nightingale Architects have made available some new images of the project at The Whiteleaf Centre, Aylesbury. This particular image is of the large meeting room in the resource centre. The digitally printed artwork manufactured by Guardian is applied to the glazing screen. When the sun is strong, this creates an additional and fleeting, ephemeral extension of the artwork cast in shadow upon the floor and adjacent walls.
The digitally printed glazing artwork casts shadows on the adjacent walls.
Detail of the Cafe and Waiting area of the resource centre. Image: Nightingale ArchitectsChristopher Tipping, the project artist standing next to a sample wall covering installation on the wards at The Whiteleaf Centre. Image: Tom Cox
Detailed design for the Inset text to the Eastern set of steps. Central Chelmsford.
Detailed design for text to the Southern set of York stone steps. Central Chelmsford.
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.
Details of the text for several steps are used here on a sample panel awaiting approval.Details of partial words and phrases – “Calm & quietude’, ‘Can you see the Can?’ & ‘Hurricane’. Inset granite text to York stone step.Text sample images. Central Chelmsford project.
A few more images of the installation of the ‘Canal Shore’ artwork and highway works have been issued by Balfour Beatty from the site of the Phase 1 Station Quarter North project in Southampton.
Blended Granite for highway and pavement.Blended Granite for highway and pavement.Black basalt kerb detail with water jet cut & inset granite text.Black Basalt kerb detail with water jet cut & inset granite text.
