Brief

The brief requested a ‘unique piece of art bespoke to Alsager, reflecting its environment, community and heritage’. After investing time with the community, an overarching theme of performance emerged, and the need for a place that groups within Alsager, could use for live events.

Concept

Our response was to re-design the existing public realm to enable a performance space with a spotlight and services to allow live events. Our design needed to correct a significant difference in ground level, so we created a stacked granite wall seat to ease this fall. The wall-seat encloses a dais, which makes reference to a traditional bandstand. The seating allows the audience an opportunity to engage and dwell in the space.

An extra level of detail was added through seven themed bronze elements that were created through a series of workshops with 3 schools in Alsager. These have been set into the feature wall-seat, creating tactile integrated art that has a personal connection and narrative linked to Alsager. The legacy of this design process will only really become apparent when it is occupied and activated by the community.

The two prominent materials are granite and bronze, offering a rich and high quality aesthetic, that is also substantially maintenance free. We chose six different colours for the granite; grey tones compliment the new co-operative store and the warmer reds reflect the colours in Alsager. The feel is playful and energising.