Concept

At 30 metres tall, this sculpture successfully integrates art, design and architecture. It has become a new beacon for the town's key historical point of 'big lamp corner'. This artwork includes an integrated transportation hub and with it's 6,000 cast glass prisms and LED lighting sustainably illuminates itself both night and day. Silica's form, colour and texture responds to maritime themes of sand, water and light. It won a Civic Trust Award in 2008 for it's  excellence of concept, design and fabrication.

Detail

Elegant glass reinforced concrete suggests rippled sand and memory of the sea. Stainless steel houses 6000 cast glass prisms refract the light and allude to historical lamplight.

LED lights shimmer, change colour, suggest waves and convey public information.

TEAM

Client
North Somerset Council

Lead Artist
Wolfgang Buttress

Main Contractor
Wolfgang and Heron

Structural Engineers
Price and Myers

Architects
Conran and Partners

Interior Architects
Macaulay Sinclair

Lighting Design
Gravity Design