Wildflower Public Art Project for Tilia Homes.
Bristol 2024
Wildflower, commissioned by Walter Jack Studio, is a site specific sculpture, designed following a community engagement program directed at local people in collaboration with Avon Wildlife Trust. Wildflower is located at the entrance of the Urban Quarter a new housing development by Tilia Homes.
The large scale flower sculpture is a playful nod to the Hengrove Mounds; a nature reserve overlooking the Urban Quarter, a new housing development in Hengrove. Wildflower serves as a functional and interactive piece of public art encouraging green exploration and celebrating green spaces in our cities.
Client: Tilia Homes Producer: Diana Hatton Consultancy Commissioner: Walter Jack Studio Technical Assistance: Paul Channing Metalwork: Tim Latter Galvanising and Painting: Cardiiff Galvanisers Transport: Baber Transport Video: Luis Veloso(Fried Peppers)
Community Engagement
The community engagement programme for Wildflower began with a period of in-depth research into the site, its history and its surroundings. Right next door to the new Urban Quarter development sits the Hengrove Mounds, one of Avon Wildlife Trust's My Wild City sites, a rich wildlife haven full of meadow grasses, wildflowers, plants, insects and goats. A hidden gem that most of the incoming residents had no idea existed.
To start, I went exploring and took a roll of film at the Hengrove Mounds to properly capture the beauty, walked the site and dug into the history of the area, which had previously been used as an airport field and landfill after the Second World War.
Working in collaboration with Avon Wildlife Trust, I devised a community engagement programme: to generate ideas for the commission from local people, to facilitate a relationship with residents and their green spaces, share creative skills and explore!
I hosted two events with Avon Wildlife Trust at the Hengrove Mounds, to generate interest in the local wildlife, and start gathering ideas that later fed in to the concept of my final artwork. To reach as many local people as possible I also engaged residents directly through door to door conversations, and took part in community workshop sessions led by Scott Farlow as part of the wider Making Hengrove project.
The connection between the development and the Mounds became central to the concept, encouraging local communities to take an active interest in the nature reserve on their doorstep.
Design Concept
The concept grew directly out of the engagement process and research in to the site. I wanted to make something that is simple, fun and functional. Wildflower intends to be a playful nod to the Hengrove Mounds responding to this vision. The colours and shape are a surprising, aesthetically pleasing addition to the Urban Quarter development, for residents and local people, serving as a meeting place, a welcoming entrance and key connector to the nature reserve right on their doorstep.
The sculpture is not for play, but invites imagination and curiosity about nature. The design directly connects the flower sculpture to specific wildflower species that grow on the mounds, such as wild carrot, corky-fruited water drop-wart, kidney vetch. Kidney Vetch is the only food plant of the small blue butterfly, a nationally scarce species which can be found in Hengrove.
Fabrication
1. Model
The process began with a handmade scale model, built to test the form, scale and character of the sculpture.
2. Technical Drawings Paul Channing
Paul Channing converted my model into detailed 3D technical drawings, working out how the sculpture would be engineered and fabricated in steel at full scale.
3. Metal
The steel components were laser cut and delivered to the metal worker - Tim Latter's workshop. I liked seeing the flat pack pieces laid out and imagining them assembled into a four metre sculpture.
4. WeldingTim Latter
Tim Latter assembled and welded the steel components together over several weeks, a long and skilled process, curving the metal into the rounded forms of the stem and building the sculpture up piece by piece. Seeing my drawing become a physical object at such scale was incredible.
Tim gave me a welding workshop during the fabrication process, where I welded parts of Wildflower myself. Being hands on in the making process, instead of designing from afar, really set this project apart. It was an invaluable experience that I would hope to bring to future commissions.
5. Transportation Baber Transport
Baber Transport were responsible for taking Wildflower on to the next stage of its fabrication journey. Seeing my huge metal sculpture loaded on to the vehicle was a proud moment!
6. Galvanising Cardiff Galvanisers
The sculpture was then galvanised, a process that coats the steel in a layer of zinc to protect it from rust. The Galvanisers don't usually work with objects like this big, so watching the sculpture being dipped was quite nerve-wracking, it was an extraordinary thing to witness!
7. Powder Coating Cardiff Galvanisers
I chose the final colours and the sculpture was powder coated, the bold yellow flower head, the orange centre, and green stem.
8. Installation Walter Jack, Tim Latter, Alex Godwin
We installed Wildflower on site, drilling it into the ground and securing it in its permanent position. After months of fabrication, problem solving and logistics, seeing it standing in the square for the first time was a dream come true.
9. Landscaping Brandwells
The final landscaping by Brandwells completed the setting, embedding Wildflower into the entrance of the development, its permanent home.
