Shopper to Watch Artwork Installed at St David's

Shoppers in Cardiff will be given the rare opportunity this week of witnessing a part of St David's history in the making.

Innovative flooring designs are being installed directly beneath the sky-light atrium in the heart of the shopping centre, with shoppers being able to watch skilled flooring contractors installing the piece under its creator's watchful eye.

The artwork spans eight metres across the floor and was designed by artist Anne Smyth, who was inspired by the history of Cardiff's city centre after visiting the National Museum Cardiff.

The design incorporates the graphic simplicity of medieval imagery and the symbols include coins, tiles and images from the past life of the site as a trading centre. The theme also commemorates the line of the Medieval Town Wall that spans across the shopping centre close by.

The perimeter of the design is laid in six sections of a contrasting, roughly finished stone with six breaks in the design, correlating with the former Town Wall's six gates. The natural stonework will complement the rich limestone that makes up the surrounding flooring of the shopping centre. Further interest will be added through a variety of textured finishes on the stones and the inclusion of glass features.

Anne's designs will sit within the floor of St David's at the point where it will join Town Wall South - the newly reconstructed mall that will form the link between the existing and extended St David's.

Anne Smythe said: 'I've been working on this for more than a year now and the designs have been in the studio for a while so it's exciting for me to see the art coming to life in full scale.

'Hopefully people will like it and will become interested in the history of the area from the references within the artwork. I hope it will be a pleasure for those who see it only once as well as people who see it time after time.
'It's in a fantastic space in the middle of St David's underneath the Atrium which is the perfect display area for the work. It's nice to see people stopping to watch the art being installed, it's drawing a lot of interest.'

The artwork is part of the £1.5m investment in public art by St David's Partnership - a joint venture between Land Securities and Capital Shopping Centres - helping to transform the centre of Cardiff and improving and adding interest to its public spaces.

Steven Madeley, centre director of St David's, said: 'There has been a huge transformation within St David's in the past year. Over £50m has been invested in modernising the shopping centre, including new flooring, ceilings, glass entrance canopies and the installation of the glass atrium, which acts as a real focal point. Anne Smyth's designs will lay underneath the atrium and are certainly turning a few heads while they are being intricately installed.

'A lot of the work within the shopping centre has taken place at night but the installation of the flooring designs is fascinating to watch and we wanted to give shoppers a chance to see it happening.'

Anne Smyth is a decorative artist who works in glass and flooring materials, combining texture, pattern making, image and colour to create bold and functional designs. She has worked on architectural and public art commissions for the last 20 years, including an entrance window and entrance lobby floor for National Archive, London, a 150sq metre silk-screened glass window for Midsummer Place, in Milton Keynes, and an external light and floorscape in Slough's High Street.

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