Newport Pagnell
Turning signage into interpretive public art
A wonderful opportunity to raise the standard of signage and way-finding. Proving there's more to Newport Pagnell than Motorway Services and Aston Martin.
Steve Capsey
(Partner - Maltings Heritage)
Newport Pagnell Town Council received a significant amount of Section 106 funding that was specifically allocated for public art. They launched a competitive selection process to find a supplier who could deliver 7 innovative town gateway structures and 6 way-finding signs that would also serve as public and interpretive art. These would be followed by later stages of the project to deliver interpretive lecterns, leaflets and digital media. Following a rigorous process of public and council presentations the Maltings emerged as the clear choice for the project.
Our proposals were to combine a series of historically relevant interpretive artworks, and a common graphic icon of the town's famous bridge, with the more functional aspects of the structures. A visual language of oak, satin black and brushed stainless steel was designed to apply across all manufactured elements. We carried out a series of consultative activities and presentations to allow the community to contribute to the final selection of images we would use. The final selection included Aston Martin, the M1 services (the first in Britain), the English Civil War, coaching and vellum making among others. Installing such large structures close to highways required a considerable process of planning permissions, structural compliances, highways approvals and investigation of underground services before final permits were issued for the works. An advanced manufacturing process allowed laser cutting our designs into 3mm carbon steel which was then powder coated in an anti-graffiti satin black. The images would be revealed by the brighter coloured stainless steel structure behind, enhanced at night with solar illumination from a discrete unit in the top of the structures. Precision manufacturing by specialists, and a very flexible design, allowed us to fine tune each of the gateway structures with inserts which maximised visibility in each of the unique environments. Some used a bright brushed composite metal insert while others used the highly reflective 3M Diamond Grade material that maximises night-time visibility on the more arterial locations.
Way-finding structures were later designed and approved through a similar process and samples created to test their visibility and durability in all conditions.
This has been an exciting and extremely challenging project, and the structures created so far show how a highly creative approach can elevate even practical elements of street furniture beyond simple finger posts and signs.The final stage of the project was series of interpretive lecterns linked to mobile apps, a website and traditional trail leaflets. Please see our separate case study for this.
Maltings are members of the following professional organisations: Association for Heritage Interpretation, Group for Education in Museums, and Association of Illustrators.
