The 10,884m2 of Promenade Enhancement Works aimed to renew the promenade following a similar design theme to that adopted for the recently completed Phase 1 of the scheme. The design approach was set in the context of ‘One Conwy’ CCBC’s vision for the future of Conwy County Borough Council. These principles are also enshrined in the Welsh Government’s Vibrant and Viable Place (VVP) national outcomes for prosperous communities, learning communities, and healthier communities.  

OUR JOURNEY

All the artwork was produced at IP Surfaces using natural stone to address the need for resilience in the harsh coastal environment and in an area of heavy foot fall. The use of various stone types also allowed the design of intricate images in the form of the ‘Postcards from Colwyn Bay’. ‘Health Markers’ were introduced to promote and encourage activity on the promenade in line with CCBC’s corporate plan to help inspire people in Conwy towards a healthier and independent lifestyle using a series of distance markers at 50m intervals in granite with waterjet artwork with imagery and text to promote sports, health and wellbeing. ‘Postcards from Conwy’ – The postcards tell the history of Colwyn Bay in a playful and imaginative way. The imagery and the bilingual text only give a snippet of the extensive research done to produce them. It is intended to inspire visitors and locals alike to go and do their own further research. QR codes placed adjacent to each postcard also provide a route to further information. A wide range of natural stones were chosen to create a palette of colours to produce the images on the postcards. The text portion was produced in Crystal Black and Mist granites as these provided the best contrast to make the text as legible as possible. The health markers (placed at 50m intervals along the Promenade) were created using Crystal Black and Mist granites for clarity and to complement the more detailed appearance of the postcards. ‘The Wave Seat’ – a simple two-tone granite block seating. The strength in the design comes from the combination of radial blocks to form a 27m long irregular curvilinear sculptural seat with shallow alcoves for social interaction. The use of the contrasting Mist granite and Kilkenny Irish Blue limestone lends strongly to the bold but simple visual composition.

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.

Located on the sea wall, the trail of a series of installed 31 polished black granite Storyboards along Scarborough’s Marine Drive, manufactured for the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre, tells the story of Scarborough’s history. The idea for the project came about from the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre in 2019, and were consequently awarded £40,000 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund at the start of 2022. Also involved with the project was the Archaeological and Historical Society and the Scarborough & District Civic Society with permission to use the sea wall given by Scarborough Borough Council. Each ‘Porthole in Time’ tells a small part of Scarborough’s rich and varied history. People walking the trail can learn more via a smartphone ‘App’ or website to get more details on each of the Portholes. Local residents and visitors, together with students from local schools, helped select the historical topics to feature in the project. IP Surfaces collated all of the original designs and artwork, collaborating closely with Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre, and reproduced them for their CNC production techniques of reverse etching and sandblasting the Premium Black granite polished portholes including meticulous hand-crafted attention to detail by the IP Surfaces team. Project Manager, Huw Roberts, a Trustee of the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre, commented at the time of installation: “This is great news for Scarborough, and its residents and visitors. Whatever was happening in history, ancient or modern, Scarborough has been up there making the news and contributing to one of the most fascinating and unique heritages of any town in Britain.” The trail of the 31 information portholes was installed in November 2022 and inaugurated by local award-winning playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn on 6th December 2022.