GIANT BOBBIN MAINTAINS THREAD OF HISTORY AT SCOTTISH STUDENT ACCOMMODATION SCHEME
Currently being constructed by specialist university sector construction firm, Ocon and designed by Hurdrolland Architects, the £19.75 million, 498-bedroom ‘Opal 1’ scheme in the Parker Street area of Dundee is due for completion in the summer. Locally-based artist, Adrienne McStay, has been commissioned to create a piece of public art that will link the high quality student accommodation development with the location’s history as the site of jute mill workers’ tenements and UAD’s contribution to the city’s industrial heritage as the former ‘Dundee Technical Institute’, originally founded in 1888 to support local commerce. Courses offered by the university in the 19th century included textile manufacture enabling the jute manufacturers to train the technicians and managers required for Dundee’s mills. The sculpture, inspired by the bobbins that held the thread used to make the jute fabric, will be unveiled when the building is handed over by Ocon in August.
Explains Adrienne: “The bobbin is an iconic image from Dundee’s Jute processing era and a distinctive shape that lends itself to a sculptural treatment. My vision for this piece of art is to present the form of a jute bobbin in a modern way. Using metal, glass and light the sculpture will represent the University’s 100+ years of supporting Scotland’s commerce and industry, historically by training workers for the jute industry and latterly by developing the skills needed to lead the way in the 21st century technical revolution.”
Adrienne is working with Midlothian-based artisan blacksmiths, Phil Johnson & Company, to create the sculpture. A skeletal bobbin shape will be created using rounded mild steel bar, creating both the bobbin structure and an impression of the jute thread. Glass beads, representing silicon and fibre optics used by the computer industry, will be threaded onto the steel bar and the whole structure will be lit using led lights to create a subtle, ambient light.
This is the latest of several public art projects to be undertaken by Adrienne, whose previous work includes the LIGHTHOUSE, Riverside Drive, Dundee. Originally from Ireland, she has lived in Newport-on-Tay for 18 years and has been inspired by the city’s jute industry heritage.
Comments Clive Williamson, managing director of Ocon: “The Opal 1 scheme will significantly enhance student and conference guest accommodation in Dundee. It is built on a site that played a significant role in Dundee’s past for an academic institution that helped build the city’s industrial heritage and is now inspiring a new generation to pursue careers in 21st century industries. We look forward to celebrating that heritage when both the public art and finished development are unveiled in the summer.”
