Re visiting the Old Fire Station

 

View looking up at the wall from the ground floor. You can see here how the wall is rather like a patchwork of finishes, including the old brickwork, new rendering and boxed-in areas.

We had another opportunity to visit the Old Fire Station. The last time we saw the space, it was mostly covered by scaffolding, so we didn't get a good look at it. On returning, the scaffold has been removed and the space was clear. It was useful to see the wall after just working from the architects drawings up until now. It gave us the chance to visualize our finished artwork on the wall and to see if where we had decided to place things was going to work.

 This is the left-hand side of the rendered area on the ground floor. 

This is the section which will be viewed immediately after entering the building. We have two layered pieces here. The lower one which is a sand-blasted finish and the one slightly higher will have a mirror finish. We decided on this as the mirror finish is more high maintenance and is likely to pick up fingerprints and grease much easier. We also made such that these lower pieces were to be fixed flat to the wall as to prevent any potential sharp edges sticking out.

 The view from the ground floor from a lower eye level

The meeting was also an opportunity for us to meet the technicians who will be installing the work; Matt and Adam. It was useful to discuss with them in detail issues such as the scissor lift, PLI, the type of brickwork and where the artwork will be positioned.

Being able to view the space we noticed other areas which we thought might be intriguing places to hang the work too. Such as the space on the first floor by the glazed window area. We liked the long space and thought that maybe one of Connor's pieces would work there.

 We really like the industrial feel to the building. The exposed areas such as the piping and the metal railings. The skylight window also provides a good source of natural light.

 This wall is to the right of the main wall. We thought it would be the perfect place to hang Robin's long trailing piece as it allows the piece to have more room. We also think that having artwork on different walls will lead the viewer's eye around different parts of the building.

 View from the third floor. 

The artwork will be viewed from different angles. We are hoping that at different times throughout the day, shadows will be cast on the wall behind.

 Third floor tea area

Initially we were planning on hanging Robin's piece here and also another smaller piece lower down. However when we saw the space we didn't feel that it would work well here. We thought that the cupboard would be a distraction and the length of the wall didn't provide the piece with enough space. Instead we have decided to hang it on another wall (see above).

 The Art Room

This is going to be the Crisis Art Room. This is where art classes will take place and it will also be the space where we will put up the exhibition of the work which was done in the workshops. It is a great space, lots of natural light and cupboard space with tables in the centre of the room. The Art room opens out onto a roof top garden! It looks as though it is going to be a very inspiring space.

Rachel in her hard hat!

Both Rachel and I are very excited about getting the finished artwork up on the wall. We are now waiting for the fabricators to start cutting the metal. Hopefully we will be able to visit during this process and take some photos.