Amey Consulting were appointed by Liverpool City Council to develop a Masterplan and detailed design proposals for the redevelopment of Liverpool city centre. Hardscape aided the design team throughout the process with design and manufacturing advice from project inception on material selection, lead times for delivery of paving and paving specifications for comparison with Amey’s design team proposals to the client to make sure they were suitable, a long-lasting material of high quality and which was in-keeping with the area.  

OUR JOURNEY

Hardscape worked closely with the design time to bring a vision of the bespoke benches to fruition assisting in and advising throughout the IP Surfaces manufacturing process and construction methods to enable their team to finalise elements with the client and stakeholders. A total number of nine bespoke solid Magma granite benches were installed along the length of the scheme to showcase the rich history of Liverpool University, commemorating nine past pupils who were awarded the Nobel Prize. Names and disciplines of the Nobel Prize winners were etched into each of the benches to create a high-end long-lasting feature for future generations who will use the Knowledge Quarter to admire, learn and celebrate its rich history of past pupils. The resulting scheme is in-keeping with the high-quality natural materials used throughout Liverpool and notably within the Knowledge Quarter.

Located in the heart of Manchester, adjacent to Victoria Station, Angel Gardens is a residential-led mixed-use development. It includes amongst the four buildings an iconic 36 storey tower development, comprising 466 stylish apartments and public realm interface works that completes the project to tie the new buildings and hard landscaping areas into the existing public and pedestrian roadways. providing a unique landscape for the residents.  

OUR JOURNEY

This included the installation of an old iron textile cog wheel inlayed into a granite plinth and bespoke marker stones, inlayed metal and ceramic graphics within the hard landscaping works all produced at IP Surfaces to mark the external walls and layout of the historic Shudehill Mill. Wayfinding totem signs incorporate a digital viewer within the middle section of the signs inside which house historical artefacts found from the initial extraction of the immediate local area enabling members of the public to view historical artefacts found across the site. Sister company Hardscape supplied the hard landscaping materials for Angel Gardens consisting of their unique Kellen Lavaro Grijs 530 paving, Neland Triton UWF and Neland Lotis UWF tumbled clay paving together with Kobra granite bespoke anti-skate benches, etched and painted walling and corduroy tactiles. Bespoke-designed Whitworth sandstone signage wayfinding totems also feature in the development.

Bridgewater Point is a 220-unit residential apartment building based in Salford. The project was constructed by Beaumont Morgan and includes urban landscaping that drew inspiration from Hans Renold, a Swiss-born engineer, who came to Salford in the late 19th century.  

OUR JOURNEY

Salford is credited as the birthplace of the Bush Roller Chain which Renold invented in 1880. It is most used for transmission of mechanical power on bicycles, motorcycles, to industrial and agricultural machinery. The symbolic chain artwork was made at IP Surfaces using 60 Crystal Black granite units with stainless steel inlayed and sandblasted to create the chain-effect for each piece. A very intricate process throughout which looks stunning when introduced into the scheme. Even the birds-eye view of the scheme reveals the circular layout of the bicycle wheel created with Hardscape-supplied Kellen and granite products.

Inspired design and sensitive consultation with the local community has culminated in a new bridge to replace a 300-year-old predecessor which was washed away by floods. The original Pooley Bridge near Ullswater, built in 1764, was destroyed by Storm Desmond in 2015.  

OUR JOURNEY

Residents and local businesses were offered the chance to add their name to Pooley “New” Bridge for posterity as part of a scheme which raised up to £50,000 for the local community. 301 of the Beige Pirineo sandstone pavers were laser-etched with these names at IP Surfaces as a lasting reminder of those who contributed to the community fund. The specific piece that denotes the County Council’s name and logo was laser-etched and also painted. Knight Architects designed the bridge following an intense stakeholder engagement process, listening to the community and focusing on their common aspirations to achieve a design that fitted with their sense of identity and that satisfied the technical standards required. Diane Bourne, managing director of Eric Wright Civil Engineering, which installed the bridge, said it would be a “historic landmark for years to come”.

In 2020, the historic boulevard at Princes Avenue in Toxteth underwent a dramatic transformation. The project, part of a redevelopment scheme; Sustainable Transport Enhancement Package (STEP), included the creation of a cycle lane through the centre of the Toxteth boulevard along a main route from the city into South Liverpool.  

Our Journey

On behalf of Liverpool City Council and Toxteth Community, Hardscape worked collaboratively with BCA Landscape to design, develop and create a new look boulevard that includes public art with unique installations designed through community consultation and manufactured and produced at IP Surfaces. Each installation references key aspects of L8’s rich community and religious heritage and the legacy of Liverpool’s role as a major port city. The creative elements include an etching of an 1800’s Toxteth map on an ‘L’ sculptured granite block to accompany an already existing ‘8’ sculpture; a ‘Princes Boulevard’ plinth with bronze strips and painted elements; bronze inlays with three separate Nelson Mandela quotes; artwork etched in to the paving which includes a ‘welcome mat’ with bronze insets. Also, at the start of the boulevard is an empty plinth, with a plaque explaining the city’s role in the slave trade, Huskisson’s support of slavery and why the statue was removed which once held a statue of William Huskisson. It was removed in the 1980’s by activists in L8 due to Huskisson’s links to the slave trade. Also, there is an art installation on the floor in front of a tree representing the South African Tree of Life. Implementing a variety of IP Surfaces texturing techniques, Hardscape collaborated with the design team and contractor to maintain the itinerary and timeline of the construction programme. The main challenges came from redesigning two junctions which meant that the granite design and procurement had to be produced in stages, with overlapping areas that required acute management of materials and programme procurement. The history of Toxteth is now celebrated and openly shared via the various artworks which were developed with residents, local groups and schools as a result of the public engagement process. What now remains is a galvanising location for outdoor activities and community events. The most positive impact has been the strong relationships developed between residents and Liverpool City Council. There is a now a new level of trust and respect for the Council from the local residents for recognising the benefits a scheme like this can provide for the community.

To coincide with the celebration of 200 years of the Johnnie Walker Whisky brand, Hardscape were asked to produce a medallion-style artwork installation to feature their notorious ‘Striding Man’ at the entrances to each of their four main distilleries with the first to be installed at the unique new multi-million pound distillery and garden visitor attraction at Glenkinchie near Edinburgh. The new Striding Man statue has been designed by Edinburgh artist Angela Jane Johnston. The iconic Striding Man is joined in his walk by Bruce the dog, a character from the history of Glenkinchie.  

Our Journey

Produced at their IP Surfaces factory, Hardscape liaised with designers at EPH Studios to create a stunning 2.5m circular ‘medallion’ base using Italian Prima Porphyry at its centre and a sandblasted brass-inlayed map into the porphyry and waterjet-cut brass lettering and polished brass rings into the outer circular Kobra granite surrounds. Initially the specification was for a concrete base and a corten steel centre but after discussions and sampling of various products the natural stone option of Prima Porphyry was deemed to be the best choice particularly because of its rich warm colour and texture. The red bricked building sits nestled in a deep green glen, surrounded by rolling fields of barley. In East Lothian, in an area known as ‘the garden of Scotland’, the seeds have finally been sown for a new future for Scotland’s whisky tourism industry with the opening of a new multi-million pound visitor attraction in October 2020.

The Ripple Greenway is a new path for people on foot and bicycle, connecting communities with green spaces in Thames Ward. The Greenway will link the Thames View with the Nature Reserve and the River Thames footpath. The idea for the Greenway came out of resident feedback from a series of led walks in partnership with the Sue Bramley Children’s Centre and Living Streets in 2017-18 in Thames Ward which explored how access to local green spaces could be enhanced. The Greenway will provide safer, healthier routes to schools and work for people on foot and bicycle, as it provides a traffic-free alternative to the industrial Thames Road, whilst creating a quiet and enjoyable destination.  

OUR JOURNEY

IP Surfaces have produced a series of wayfinding signage posts that will be situated along the 1.3km pathway along the River Thames at Thames Ward. The one-off ‘Interpretation Board’ is made up of a corten steel sheet which has a poem that has been waterjet-cut into it. This then has been bonded into large handcrafted wooden oak posts together with a 1.5m x 1m black polished acrylic stone board that has been laser-etched and painted with lettering, logos, and an illustration map of the path itself. There are also 5 smaller acrylic stone, laser-etched and painted, wayfinding boards and several wooden bollards with embedded stainless-steel 100mm diameter ‘badges’ etched and painted, interspersed along the route of the pathway. The project has community participation at its core. Local schools have been involved in tree planting workshops, and Sustrans has worked closely with school children to ensure that young people are considered at every step of the project. The Ripple Greenway serves as a link between Thames View Estate (1950s council housing) and the brand new Barking Riverside housing development.

This is the first phase of the A63 Castle Street, Hull scheme. A pedestrian footbridge crossing the A63 to improve safety is being erected and the footbridge itself is being named ‘Murdoch’s Connection’ which immortalises the city’s first female GP, Dr Mary Murdoch.  

THE JOURNEY

IP Surfaces produced a 5 metre panel made of European Amarelo Montemuro granite which was placed within a cladded wall area of the footbridge steps. The panel has within it a Crystal Black granite tile that reveals a digitally enhanced image of Mary Murdock, a Scottish-born physician and suffragist who had a lifelong association with Kingston upon Hull. The granite was impact-etched from an original photograph. Waterjet cut letters are also inlayed into the larger panel. The project also has a large bespoke element of granite steps, treads and cladding units each of which required individual production drawings. The name ‘Murdoch’s Connection’ was chosen by school students in an essays competition to determine which of the area’s iconic figures should be honoured. Pupils from the Newland School for Girls and Archbishop Sentamu Academy submitted 100 essays to a judging panel which chose Dr Murdoch after whittling it down to a shortlist of five people. The question was then opened to the public, attracting 55,000 votes. CGI images courtesy of Arup.

At the very heart of Petersfield Museum’s expansion and refurbishment project, ‘Pathways into the Past’ will be a 25sqm showpiece artwork that really puts the Museum on the map. Within the courtyard floor will be a bird’s eye design inspired by the town and surrounding villages within a 22-mile radius, most of which is in the South Downs National Park.  

THE JOURNEY

Designed in-house, the piece is currently being produced at IP Surfaces and is being made from 2 types of granite, Kobra Green and Violet Pearl using waterjet and laser-etch technologies. This innovative ‘destination map’ will be embedded with 21 stainless steel icons representing the surrounding villages’ unique characteristics and a brass ‘keys of St. Peter’ icon to symbolise Petersfield, all of which will glint in the sunlight, and entice visitors to go out, explore and enjoy the wonderful local landscapes. The courtyard will be a unique and distinctive space – a hub for al-fresco performances, creative activities, café tables with cake and coffee from The Servery and multiple events to bring the community together.

Cosmic House in Holland Park, Kensington, is a Grade I listed building with Historic England, located at Lansdowne Walk. It was designed by the late Charles Jencks in collaboration with other postmodern architects. Charles Jencks was still working shortly before his death, overseeing improvements to the garden at Maggie’s Inverness. His London home has become a museum of his archives. His daughter, Lily, herself an architect in her own right, has been inspirational in the creative designs that IP Surfaces undertook.  

Our Journey

The pieces shown consist of circular German Dietfurt limestone that the team at IP Surfaces have waterjet-cut to create a double-jointed circle and 2 separate circles each with individual laser-etched artwork that reflects Charles Jencks’ interest he held in science and cosmology. Each piece was carefully produced by our craftsmen working with the limestone and stencil lettering producing striking designs with 3 RAL colour reds used on the surface and 1 of the colours around the edge of the circle. Thematic House remains a residence but also has become a publicly accessible archive of both Jencks’ own work, as a landscape designer and scholar, and of drawings, letters and models by Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid and other Maggie’s Centre architects. Jencks and his late wife Maggie founded the cancer care charity. In situ photography: Hardscape and Nick Harrison FLI