Two sibling sculptures represent our shared biological diversity. Coloured panels mimic the coded, specific patterns of our DNA profiles as individuals within a community. A finer detail of perforations link the sculptures to local places and thoughts – providing a written reminder of our social and physical contexts.

The words reflect positive conversations with local people and are set into panels to cast overlapping colourful shadows onto and through the walls of the building. The vertical structures relate to the architecture of the courtyards and encourage us to look into the sky for contemplation and reflect our changing emotions.

civic were appointed to deliver a widespread programme of community led public art workshops in schools, community centres and youth clubs – engaging with over 400 residents on the briefi ng and development of a set of 4 artwork proposals. A steering goup of Council officers and residents chose to develop a sculptural bike park in a prominent location in the city (on Glasgow Road and adjacent to the Leisure Pool). This was installed in the summer of 2011.

The artwork comprises a series of stainless steel seat posts and wheels (bike racks) that are installed to resemble the ‘echelon’ at the head of a group of moving bicycles. Some of the wheels are angled out of the ground to mimic over-taking cycles, whilst some of them remain balanced in the vertical plane. A set of oversized seats (modelled on an oversized traditional leather bicycle saddle) provide places to sit and wait for friends – one of the many ideas contributed by local school children that were involved in the design stages of the project.

The ‘Peoples’ Panorama’ Project consists of 37 large screen printed, double glazed windows that form a significant part of the public face to Dunbar’s new community centre at Bleachingfield.
The images take inspiration from the famous conservationist John Muir who was born and lived in Dunbar. His appetite to see the landscape and environment from different perspectives has prompted a series of works that look to combine local contexts (physical landscape and social lives) into a collaged wall of glass on the main elevation of the building.

The collage has included images taken through Artists Walks – where we have collected stories and photographs of residents’ chosen places and objects to reflect the history and future ambitions of the community. We have set up an evolving source of images and stories through Facebook that is enabling the community to voice opinion and engage with the completed artworks. The Facebook Page can be found by searching for ‘Dunbar Points Of View’.

Peer Plaques is the outcome of a two year residency in which we researched the present and future effects of regeneration within the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) intervention areas of Burnley, East Lancashire.

The project reflects local residents’ experiences of HMR including perspectives on how the neighbourhoods have changed and might possibly change in the future as a direct consequence of the regeneration programme starting. A series of 50 heritage style plaques were installed onto abandoned terraced houses in three of Burnley’s HMR areas during February 2008. The work is based on the question asked of many residents: “What is your fi rst thought when you
think about your neighbourhood?”

Peer Plaques was a direct response to a growing sense that residents’ voices were not being heard as part of ongoing formal consultation processes – and as such expressed their ambitions and fears directly through the public artworks.

The design of the Stair Tower cladding panels has been developed in collaboration with a joint group of students and staff from
three schools who merged into the new building in September 2012. The design is an abstracted map of the World that wraps around the stair tower, showing the main outlines of the World’s land masses with major cities picked out as circles.

A finer layer of detail will show the main mountain ranges of the World and adds a further texture to the artwork. The material is an embossed (pressed) metal panel that will pick up and reflect the changing daylight and night time lighting conditions.

The map has been drawn using the Peters’ projection of the World, as this depicts each country accurately in relative size to one another unlike many other World projections such as the Mercator Projection.

North Lanarkshire NHS Trust commissioned civic to design a focal public artwork within an external courtyard at the new Community Health Centre in Airdrie.
The design reflects a complex brief and looks to create an artwork that has a changing aspect depending on internal viewpoint and external weather; that brings a flash of colour into an otherwise monochrome architecture and that seeks to encourage patients and staff to exercise their eyes and look to the sky through the helical and colourful structures.

The sculptures are a product of the structural limits and challenges/opportunities that were already in place (the commission was made just months before the building completion date) and the limited installation conditions (a 60t crane was contracted to land the structures from an adjacent car park).

The steelwork and Perspex structures were developed in close collaboration with Elliot and Co. Structural Engineers in Edinburgh and assembled by HadFab Steel Fabricators in East Lothian.

The project was supported by Public Art Aberdeen (the City Council’s public art team) as a pilot study to investigate the potential for public spaces to change through the creative relationship between an artist in residence with a community.

The purpose of the project was to capture a point in time and to record a set of ideas that were developed through sketches and conversations between active local groups and civic.

The project concluded with the publication of an artists’ book which constitutes a brief catalogue of ‘starter’ proposals that belong to the residents of Northfield and Cummings Park.  The ideas exist to be developed should there be any capital investment in the neighbourhood’s public realm.

The ideas range in size and in their pragmatism – and they are all intended to lift the day to day experience of living in Northfield. They are also ‘ideas-in-progress’ and have been influenced by those members of the community that were available and willing to think creatively about their own place.

The new digital screen to the west of Dublin’s Temple Bar District was designed to maximise the direct use of the media screen whilst at the same time addressing 3 major viewing angles from opposite and adjacent locations. The limited budget required inventive use of the site.

The design raises the media screen and angles it down towards the long distance view from Dublin’s ‘Creative Corridor’ where a range of art faculties and creative businesses are located. The Mirror Screen then reflects the digitally curated images back to the main pedestrian route from the City centre whilst at
the same time it creates a form of protection to the space – making an ‘outdoor room’ for events.

A large widescreen mirror precicesly reflects images to waiting traffi c, only snapping into view when vehicles reach the opposite traffic lights. A fourth, concave mirror reflects the view to pedestrians approaching the site from the banks of the River Liffey – a popular route from the centre to the famous Guiness Brewery Museums. The scheme was shortlisted and was highly praised by the interview panel but due to Ireland’s econmomic downturn the project remains without funds, and no overall winner was announced.

‘Bathing Beauties’ began back in 2006 with an international art and architecture competition to ‘Re-imagine the Beach Hut for the 21st Century’
Our design was an amalgamation of some of the stereotypical and what some would call quintessential British seaside paraphanalia. Beach chairs, wind breaks, lattice fencing and beach huts all have their own particular language of design.

Our hut contained a camera obscura/periscope for viewing the landscape behind, and make a sheltered spot in front of the hut for sitting out on a veranda style platform. The design is also constructed from timber sections that have all been jointed at either 30 or 45 degrees to one another and that can all be easily replaced
with infill panels. This would add to the ageing charm of the hut over time as panels were replaced and swapped out by successive owners.

The 1:20 scale model is still touring arts venues internationally as one of the shortlisted entries.

This public art project took the form of a computer printed waiting hall carpet – set in the central circuation area of a new Polyclinic.
The pattern takes a direct reference from surrounding natural landscapes (chalk downland, clifftop, sea fringes, river bank and hedgerow) and lists out all found and anecdotally grown medicinal plants – as reference to the medical multi-functional nature of a polyclinic.

The installation is permanent, and has a motif running throughout which is the River Ouse. One of the key ideas was to provide a playful fl oor surface whilst at the same time relating the work to the natural landscape surrounding Newhaven whilst at the same time giving patients and visitors something to read as they wait for their appointments.

Each of the carpet tiles has a unique reference code and can be replaced with ease (through Milliken Carpets) to mitigate concerns that the Healthcare Trust had over planned maintenance. The project was delivered through the South Downs Health NHS Trust Arts Initiative; designed by Andrew Siddall as Project Architect at Penoyre & Prasad.