Engineering a change

Officers at Dorset County Council came together with others to develop a brief for a replacement bridge for the Jurassic Coast – England’s only Natural World Heritage Site –.which appointed artists to lead on the design and work with engineers. The bridge at Charmouth Beach, West Dorset will open in April 2011. This collaboration included representatives from Cultural Services, Dorset Engineering Consultancy, Dorset Countryside Coastal Rangers, the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the World Heritage Team. I led the process, with support from Public Art South West Art. The core team had input into all stages of the appointment process, which finally selected artists Sans façon.

All team members have a commitment to maintaining the high quality natural environment that Dorset is known for. Gaining an understanding of each other’s objectives enabled us to build up trust, and we agreed that the bridge needed to be sympathetic to its natural surroundings. Other benefits included smoothing the way and influence; funding contacts, sharing the work load and implementing best practice.

The design team also liaised closely with the community, including a series of workshops with Charmouth Primary School. Sessions were facilitated on practical engineering solutions and on infrastructure placed in our environments – looking at aesthetics, scale and site. The Charmouth Project is the second bridge that the cross-departmental team had worked on, which meant that mutual respect was already in place. Prior to this we had worked with artist Christopher Tipping on the Newton Cove replacement bridge in Weymouth. Both bridges have been awarded the Inspire Mark for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which recognises innovative and exceptional projects. Clearly all of this is beneficial for our environment and fulfils the objectives of the local authority.

It took advocacy to convince the engineering team that artists could positively contribute to the design of bridges – they saw artists as object makers, rather than as skilled in concept development. Selecting the right artist was paramount – as well as needing an artist with excellent concept design skills, a successful collaboration depends on communication and the team dynamic. This dynamic evolved, objectives were met and issues resolved.