Home News Art to be commissioned for Granton park – shortlist on display

Art to be commissioned for Granton park – shortlist on display

July 17, 2024 8:30 pm

The council is commissioning a new piece of public art for the park created next to the Granton gasholder which is central to the regeneration of the area.

One artist will be chosen by a panel of experts from the City of Edinburgh and West Lothian Councils as well as creative and cultural charitable organisations. The winner will be announced later this month and when it is open, the artwork will be one of the focal points in the new iconic Granton gasholder park. The shortlisted art work is on display this weekend from Thursday 18 July to 20 July at Granton Station.

The Granton Gasholder and surrounding area has an important position within the £1.3bn Granton Waterfront regeneration, with active travel routes and green space connecting Waterfront Broadway and the coastal park.

The space within the restored gasholder is to have multi-sensory play zones, a dedicated area for permanent and temporary public art and one for relaxation, outdoor trails, and tracks for exercise as well as a large outdoor space for sports, markets, seasonal events, community use, festivals, performance arts, exhibitions, and play. Work will also be carried out to plant trees, shrubs and wildflowers improving biodiversity and local habitat in the area.

Council Leader Cammy Day said: “The gasholder plays such an important role in the £1.3bn regeneration of Granton Waterfront. The structure itself is currently being refurbished allowing it to become a place where the local community and other visitors will come together to enjoy outdoor space as well as other cultural activities. It is really important that they are involved in this project which is why local people have been working with all of the artists to help to produce each final design.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the exhibition and very excited to see which design is taken forward to be an engaging artwork in the new park.”

Natalie Taylor

The concept for flutterby garden is to represent some of the species currently surrounding the Gas Tower and the wider Scottish environment in nectar rich borders. The proposal features a biodiverse garden with Scottish wildflowers and plants, selected to attract and sustain pollinators. It will also provide a beautiful area to sit and enjoy the surroundings. Design elements will honour the gas tower’s industrial history, including a laser-cut steel trellis featuring artwork by local people. The garden will form a bridge between the human and non-human world, pointing out the relationship between our food system and pollinating insects.

Kevin Dagg

The Mossy Bothy, a 9metre by 4metre building, aims to create a living monument that honours the legacy of factory workers and their families while capturing a snapshot of the natural regeneration in North Edinburgh. With sustainability at its core, the Bothy is designed to grow with the community, evolving with the passage of time and changing seasons. The building will be constructed from recycled brick with horizontal surfaces to harbour sedums. Gradually over time as the sedum secures a footing it will start to colonise the structure, which has the potential to harbour 120sqm of biodiversity.

Bespoke Atelier/Iglu Studios

The proposal is for a playful composition of forms which inspire users to interact, perch, play and sit. The proposed artwork is inspired by the vessels of the Scottish Marine Station in Granton and wave sculptures surrounding the boat signify the coast and water. The surfaces will be tactile, inviting people to touch the patterns and feel the connection to their natural environment. The low carbon approach to materials will be complemented by a series of planting areas around the edge of the art space.

Maja Quille/Julian Stocks

The artwork will be ia geometric steel sculpture, utilising squares, circles and triangles, inspired by the historic links to lighthouses in the area and the gasholder itself. A steel cube balanced on its point, the shape references the trestle-like frame of the Granton lighthouse windows as well as the gasholder cross-beams, creating interesting sight-lines through the structure, which will frame the work when seen from different angles. Each side will be covered in a unique pattern, developed in collaboration with different community groups and abstracted through a kaleidoscope.

Aeneas Wilder

Aeneas is proposing a monumental structure made from the stacked assembly of granite stone blocks, which is an abstract geometric structure echoing the construction and engineering of the Gasholder frame itself. The design also has within it a number of symbolic references and indicators of the culture, heritage and history of the Gasholder site, the greater Granton area and the communities that live there. The proposed structure has seven peaks, which roots the design in Edinburgh, with its reference to the seven hills on which the city is built. These peaks could also be viewed as chimney stacks setting off a chain of reference, including coal, heating, energy sources and sustainability.

Svetlana Kondakova Muir

This design celebrates the local natural environment by portraying one of the Firth of Forth’s most special visitors. A copper and bronze life-sized head of a humpback whale will appear to be emerging from underwater vertically, an awe-inspiring shape, allowing visitors to experience the full might of this incredible creature. It will be made in a contemporary polygonal style which will complement the gasholder structure, the faceted form relating to the idea that the humpback whale is the ‘jewel’ of local wildlife. . It will incorporate bronze artworks created by local school children and college students, including an oyster reef, barnacles and other wildlife as well as tactile panels created by pupils of Oaklands School with complex support needs.