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Great Western Quarter
Art and cultural strategy
Brentford, Hounslow
2004 - ongoing
CLIENT:Barratt Homes
PARTNERS:
Assael Architects
Whitelaw Turkington
Hoare Lea
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GWQ covers a vast former brownfield site, bordering the Great West Road. The site comprises residential and commercial space including over 800 new homes, piazzas, green open spaces, shops, offices, cafés & restaurants, a new hotel, a new centre for entrepreneurs and art gallery. The cultural masterplan defines a cultural vision for the development effecting the lighting of the main building, particularly the listed Wallis building, seating and amenities.
The main arts focus is based around a substantial public art & architecture programme, offering artists opportunities to work on the residential and commercial towers. The project will use a shortlist of artists to provide ideas for the buildings, with the winning artist working as part of a collaboration between the architect, manufacturer and client. There are also plans for a kinetic light work on the residential tower, which will work as a sculptural marker for the schemes position as the gateway into London from Heathrow.
This approach is not based on 106 commitments but on a place-making approach designed to create a real community on a former brownfield site. The strategy has also helped to identify local cultural providers and arts organisations and there are currently proposals for a community gallery space in the main piazza, which will show the work of local artists in the Hounslow, Brentford and Hammersmith area.
The main arts focus is based around a substantial public art & architecture programme, offering artists opportunities to work on the residential and commercial towers. The project will use a shortlist of artists to provide ideas for the buildings, with the winning artist working as part of a collaboration between the architect, manufacturer and client. There are also plans for a kinetic light work on the residential tower, which will work as a sculptural marker for the schemes position as the gateway into London from Heathrow.
This approach is not based on 106 commitments but on a place-making approach designed to create a real community on a former brownfield site. The strategy has also helped to identify local cultural providers and arts organisations and there are currently proposals for a community gallery space in the main piazza, which will show the work of local artists in the Hounslow, Brentford and Hammersmith area.