New artwork arrives for Station Hill

The first of a £1.5 million series of sculptures and murals has been put in place at Station Hill in Reading.

The Station Hill public art programme, devised by cultural placemaking agency Futurecity, is being delivered to developer Lincoln MGT to create a new art trail across the site’s two acres of public realm, linking the station with the town centre.

Rachael Champion and Jonathan Trayte’s sculpture, named Seed (pictured), a marigold seed silhouette, placed centrally in the new public realm, references Sutton Seeds and 19^th Century Reading. It is said to merge botany, history and image microscopy.

The artwork features three orange steel plates on a five-metre cylindrical plinth that doubles as a seating area.

Botanist Dr Alastair Culham, director of the University of Reading’s herbarium, helped select magnified seed images on the surfaces.

Those were created with a scanning electron microscope at London’s Museum of Natural History. The scans were modelled in clay and then cast into bronze.

There are to be two LED murals by Stuart Melrose and Kev Munday. Rivers, Ruins & Regency, which will be positioned near the junction of Friars Walk and Friar Street, will depict notable figures including King Henry I, novelist and poet Mary Russell Mitford, peace campaigner and politician Phoebe Cusden and William Henry Fox Talbot, inventor and pioneer of photography.

The mural also references Huntley & Palmers, the World War II memorial cemetery and the Hand of St James.

And Royals, Residents & a Rock Festival, to be positioned in Station Hill, will feature celebrities like Kate Winslet, Ricky Gervais, Kate Middleton and Marianne Faithfull, alongside local figures such as businesswoman Tutu Melaku, scientist Dr Ethlywn Trewevas, table tennis champion Matthew Syed and Neil Papworth, sender of the first-ever SMS message. Reading landmarks such as the Hexagon Theatre, the Oracle and ONE Station Hill will also be depicted.

Colours on the two murals will change throughout the year to celebrate different events.

And a colourful piece called Pivotal will be placed near ONE Station Hill. It will comprise 73 brightly coloured fins, each with surfaces that move in the wind.

Lee Fearnhead, director of construction for UK & Europe at Lincoln Property Company, and on behalf of the Lincoln MGT JV, said: “We are looking forward to unveiling these works of art to the public officially at some stage early next year as part of Lincoln MGT’s dedication to creating a vibrant district that establishes a new gateway to the town.

“Station Hill is set to transform Reading. It creates a new destination for the public to enjoy, representing some £50m invested into social infrastructure and landscaping, around 95,000 sq ft of lifestyle-led retail and leisure space and the new public art installations which showcase Reading’s rich cultural heritage, instilling a sense of local pride, as well as providing a fantastic environment for people to meet and relax.”

Lorraine Farrelly, chair of the Station Hill Public Art Advisory Group and formerly foundation professor of architecture at the University of Reading, said: “The Station Hill Public Art programme has been a unique opportunity for the new development to include public art that reflects the communities of Reading.

“The artists involved have been part of a process of discussions with an advisory group that has included a range of voices from members of Reading Council to local arts organisations. All the artists have positively engaged in these discussions, refining concepts and ideas. The artworks have included participation and comment from community groups including local schools and the University of Reading.

“The intention is that there will be a legacy from this development that will add to the vibrant art community that already exists in Reading, ensuring that the new development is part of the wider town and community of Reading, culturally and socially.”

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