Gateways to Wales
Anna:
May 21st, 2007
The competition is hotting up for designers whose “gateways” will soon be welcoming visitors at three key entry points to Wales. The second Severn crossing, the A550 in Flintshire and Holyhead harbour are the location in question and the the ideas should start being translated into reality by the end of the year - announcement of the winning designs is expected in September, and a £13m bid for lottery funding, if successful, should provide a big boost.
Over 100 architects, engineers and creative minds submitted ideas to the Landmark Wales project, and you can see the shortlisted ideas on the project website. Glancing through the designs, I saw what appeared to be little red men, gigantic inverted umbrellas, and a glow-in-the-dark celtic knot. Small wonder that opinion is divided about which design should win, and indeed the huge sums of money involved in the venture as a whole.