This commission is for Persimmon homes through Continuum Arts.

The proposal is to create a sculptural work that invokes the atmosphere of the sea, relates to historical and contemporary seafaring and also responds to the particular conditions of the site.

The site is a mound of aggregate covered by a layer of topsoil. Below this is a deposit of material which cannot be disturbed by the type of foundations that a single, heavy sculptural structure would require.

To accommodate this very particular requirement it is proposed to create a work which while having a dramatic form and structure will distribute the weight load across a wide area of the mound.

The proposal is to create a forest of granite columns with square section (approx 200mmx 200 mm) that will run across the mound and have the form of a wave, rising and falling both along its length and from side to side. The highest columns will be approximately 3 metres tall and the lowest will be 1 metre tall. They will have a sweeping form as shown in the plan view drawings and will intersect the spiral path that winds around and up the mound. The low points of the swell of the wave will be at points where the path passes through the wave, giving spectators the feeling of being within the wave.

 At the highest point of the mound there will be an enclosure within the tall columns where either granite seating or a plaque indicating directions and distances to ports such as Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro will be sited. This will be a quiet oasis where spectators can meditate on the seafaring history of the area and look at the views of the sea through the columns.

On some of the columns text will be sandblasted into the granite. This will relate to the seafaring history of the site. It will include names of ships such as the coal boats which carries coal from S.Wales to Portishead power station, ships such as Brunel’s SS. Great Britain, The training ship Formidable, references to the Portishead Radio station, distant ports and cargos carried to and from Portishead.  These will run vertically up the columns.