Category Archives: Public Artwork

Public Artwork maybe commissioned for its own sake, required to comply with section 106 planning conditions or civic enrichment by local authorities.

Kingpost Public Artwork

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August 2012, Burrows Lea Forge won a design competition for Public Art installation at Kingpost, Burpham, Surrey commissioned by Guildford Borough Council.

The site is confined and the Artwork had several jobs to do. It had to incorporate signage, a ‘nod’ to the heritage of the site, the usual public interaction criteria as well as having very low maintenance  requirements.

Burrows lea Forge rose to the challenge (as usual) and designed it tall and proud with a small footprint. One amendment to the design and the order is placed. We were very busy at the point of order and a long turnaround time had to given, with a promise and guarantee the work would be in place by the end of February 2013.

Extracts from my Design and Access Statement describe the work better than I can write here and now: “The proposed Kingpost & London Road parades Public Artwork takes the form of a Signpost, set into the centre of the existing, circular communal area. The Public Artwork is essentially a sign and a post; it has generic iconography on the upper portion of the post that is surmounted by a large two-sided insignia/logo/sign. It has integral signboards stating Kingpost Parade on one face and London Road Parade on the other.

Public Art at Kingpost

Public Art at Kingpost

The sign depicts a stylised ‘meld’ of a Crown (Kingpost) and a Cartwheel (London Road). The wheel sits/rolls on a ‘road’ obstructed by large pebbles (actually the steel ball nuts that hold the post and sign parts together). The design is visually balanced, giving neither the crown nor the wheel dominance; as with the two actual shopping parades. The framing effect of the wheel rim is truncated in the design to offer the signboards more space and get the message across.

For me this is a natural choice and application of imagery for this Public Artwork. I didn’t want to rely totally on the area’s history for a theme nor did I want to create abstract art that may stand against the environment. I consider this area of the Guildford district as a dynamic and changing scene, with plenty of scope for growth. There are many young families and small businesses in the area, so a simple, instantly recognisable form is respectful to them.”

I consider the site of the Artwork to be ‘walk by’ and ‘seen from a far’, so it has to be tall, over 4 metres in fact, if it were shorter it would just disappear into the shop signs and many road signs that ‘litter’ the proposed site. The post is quite large too, but it needs to be to resist flex caused by gusts of wind and/or revellers who decide to test their climbing skills.

The Artwork was installed on a substantial foundation, on time and on budget in February as promised.

Thanks to Guildford Borough Council for the commission, to S.R.Newman Ltd. for preparing the foundations/making good and to JPS Ltd for transport and lifting services.

The Batsman Gate and Railing, Guildford, UK.

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The Batsman gate and railings was commissioned by the Radian Group in early 2012 and installed at the end of June 2012. The Public Artwork commission made up Radian’s S106 planning obligation linked a new housing development opposite Surrey’s Cricket Ground in Guildford, Surrey. Radian had the foresight and trust to offer us an open brief regards to design. Radian gave us a sensible completion date which we dutifully met with time to spare. I’d like to thank Radian’s senior project manager Rob Cummins for the opportunity to create this work and their builders Leadbitter Ltd. for their support enabling us to deliver the project on time and within budget.

I chose to tell a story with our Artwork. The Artwork imagery compromises of a Cricket Batsman caught in the act of hitting a ‘six’. The sculpture tells the story of an incoming fast ball, the skill of the batsman converts the fright of a  fast bowled ball into the delight of a hard hit ball that no-one can field to safety.

The hope was that children and inevitably adults will want to touch and try to ‘pluck’ the ball from it ‘final resting place’ buried in the ‘damaged’ the railing (they won’t be able to of course!) The intent was realized within minutes of the work finally installed, when a member of the public patting the ball ‘lodged’ in the railing as they passed by. The Batsman and stylized cricket balls have a lot of suggested movement in their forms, although I designed the structure to be totally rigid and tamperproof.

The contemporary styled sculpture is made from hot forged mild steel and is reasonably ‘heavy’ in appearance. Hot forging by its nature imparts life, and suggests an organic and natural feel to what is otherwise a dead metal. There’s a contrasting surface textures, smooth rivet heads, heavily mottled textured bars etc. The sinuous, twisting body of the Batsman is at the foreground of the gate, fixed to the front of the gate frame, behind him are (intact) cricket stumps and behind that is the outline of a giant, stitched seam cricket ball. The gate frame copies the twisting action of the Batsman. The layering does not add up much depth, perhaps only 100mm, but compared to an ordinary gate it will appear deep and rich.

Material density also varies, the ‘balls’ (which are hollow spheres) will sound hollow when rapped with knuckles, whereas the batsman and stumps, rigid and unyielding. The artwork is viewed mainly from passing traffic and pedestrians walking past on both sides of the road, so a substantial build is desirable.

The steelwork is hot dipped galvanized and treated with Phosphoric acid, the surface is then cut back with a light abrasive. We then sealed the resultant effect with a hard wax. This is not a permanent process, just one that speeds up the final effect.

Sidney Sime Bench

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Sidney Sime Bench

Sidney Sime Bench

We finished installing this bench this morning in the beautiful sunshine. It was commissioned by Worplesdon Parish Council and Guildford Borough Council. Its a mixture of Public Artwork, Signage and Seating. Its eclectic as was Sidney Sime, this is the man the Bench is dedicated to, it is to celebrate his life and works. There is a very interesting Gallery at the Village Hall with many of his papers and works of Art; the Bench acts as Signage to the Gallery too.

The design is based upon one of Sidney Sime’s sketches. I interpreted it and drew full size drawings to enable the structure to be made. These sort of 3D structures need to be draw to full size otherwise they can be near impossible to make economically. The main structure is Mild Steel and there is some beautiful hot forged detailing, namely the leaves and roses surmounting the sign boards. The metalwork has been hot zinc sprayed (cathodic protection) and powder coated in a very dark grey. The seating is made from Hardwood Iroko supplied and machined for us by Mayford Joinery, it has an oiled finish. All the fixings are made from Stainless Steel.

I’d like to thank my good friends Andy Quirk and Graham Hart who helped with the manufacture…. thanks guys for getting getting the work done on time and for putting up with me!

Deepcut Village Sign

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Blacksmith, Hand forged, Design, Ironwork, Forge, Wrought Ironwork, Hot Forged, Blacksmithing, Deepcut Village Sign, Deepcut, Village Sign

Deepcut Village Sign 2002

The Deepcut village sign was commissioned in 2002 by Surrey Heath Borough Council. The design concept was inspired in conversation by the Deepcut Lock Keeper at that time, Peter Munt. The design jumped into my mind as soon as he mentioned that he was always sorry to have to cut back beautiful wild roses each year so that the Lock gates could be operated safely by the canal users.

The sign is unusual for us because it surmounts a tubular mild steel post, we normally prefer to use tapered Oak Posts that we specially commission from a local Saw Mill.

Hot forged from solid sections of Mild Steel, then Hot Zinc Sprayed to catholically protect the metal, you can see we have coloured this sign extensively. The paint was sealed with a lacquer like sealer so the finish was a uniformly weather resistant. We often colour village signs in this way.

Blacksmith, Hand forged, Design, Ironwork, Forge, Wrought Ironwork, Hot Forged, Blacksmithing, Deepcut village sign, Deepcut, Village sign

Forged roses for the Deepcut village sign 2002

Football Railing, Guildford.

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Football Railings

Football railing Public Art, Guildford.

Football railing was a Public Art project we were asked to design and make in 2011 by Guildford Borough Council. The brief was very specific, it had to be capable of withstanding considerable impact by cyclists using a path adjacent to a dual carriageway, it had to be curved and tall. The curvature and height was to be non concentric and variable. To ‘boot’ we had to include subtle reference in our design to Guildford’s long gone Football Ground which used to flank the site on the proposed railing

It was designed to be a very flexible railing system that offered all of the above. The design had all the elements that we thought necessary, all we had to do was to furnish it with football elements such as hot forged football like ball finials, football net like ropes hanging from the drooping top rails (like the old style football nets) and  shaping some random bars so they looked like a ball had been kicked through the bars causing a permanent reminder of the impact!

The Art is made from hot forged Mild Steel with a phosphated zinc finish.We like to use this finish on Public Art as it is neutral and maintenance free as well as incredibly tough.

Woodbridge Park Sculpture.

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Very big and very heavy!

‘Reeds & Seeds’ is a sculpture I designed and forged in Guildford for the Travis Group. Its approximately 1.8 tonne, 4 meters tall, 3 metres wide and 1.5 metres front to back. . Les Hammond and I installed it in 20 minutes with the aid of his very large crane!

The sculpture was expertly galvanised by Medway Galvanizers Ltd……. not an easy job, thanks Medgalv. Here’s is the link to the article on ‘Reeds & Seeds’ in their June 2012 newsletter http://www.medgalv.co.uk/medway-galvanising-helps-burrows-lea-forge-reinvigorate-an-area-of-surrey-wasteland-with-reeds-and-seeds/?dm_i=14K7,UI3X,63LHLY,2I8LS,1