The New Art Gallery Walsall, Gallery Sq, Walsall WS2 8LG
Material Composition: Stainless Steel, cast iron, Manchichi Wood, alpine planting
Scale: 3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 m
Planting Scheme: Staton Cohen
Fabrication: H. Downs, Leeds, Melluish, Sheffield
Budget: 40K
The New Art Gallery Walsall opened in 1990. Designed by Caruso St John, this beautiful museum has 3 floors of immaculate galleries for changing exhibitions of contemporary art and houses the permanent display of the Garman Ryan Collection. Its 4th Floor Terrace lay unused for 2 decades. This commission looks at the form function and feeling, of the terrace. Through the addition of sculpture, furniture and planting, the terrace has been humanised and is now a meeting place for the community, a place to enjoy the view, for contemplation, for parties and gatherings.
A series of discrete planters hook over the former parapet, in which a microclimate has been created with sedum/alpine planting all along the 35m terrace length. The perforated screens that frame these parapet planters significantly reduce wind impact on this exposed site. The perimeter plants create a visual play with the horizon line, distant trees appear to be of similar scale to the miniature alpines. A 12m table spans much of the length of the terrace. Flanked by benches on either side, and big enough to seat 50 people, the Sculpture Terrace can now be used for Walsall’s Eid al-Fitr, Bar Mitzvahs, birthdays, barbeques and weddings. Further seating is provided by exterior sofas made from steel and Machiche wood. Additional planting frames the windows at the north end of the Sculpture Terrace. A planting scheme including species tree, grasses and mixed coastal planting was commissioned to soften the environment and provides flowers year-round.