Cardiff Design Festival

Brief

The site of the ‘5 Stand Cleaning Line Basement’ at The Works (Ebbw Vale) was chosen for its distinctive, unique character. The imposing concrete structure provides a great context to ‘showcase imaginative ideas, innovation and sustainable development’ with a 5 year temporary landscape installation. Design considerations: • Innovation • industrial heritage • sustainable development • delivery by 2010 • access into the basement • budget of £100k • Structural integrity

Result

The design was commended (in written feedback from the client) as being ‘highly innovative’ and has featured in the Reflecting Wales 09:09 exhibition around Wales. Ultimately, risk aversion and expedience held sway over the aspirations of the brief, so this bold design proposal is ‘the one that got away’!

Solution

‘Industrial Ornamental Garden’ celebrating steel and steel-making. The garden aims to ‘cultivate’ a belief that industrial heritage provides a basis for the renewal of the community. The garden also represents the transformations, from raw material to finished product, through the skills and knowledge of the worforce. The ‘helix’ symbolises a store of this ‘potential energy’, which is symbolically projected into the future by reflections.