Harlow Renaissance - News & Press - November 2009 - West Square Transformed by Colour

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West Square Transformed by Colour

18 November 2009

A significant area of the town centre has received a much needed face lift courtesy of the Window Works project.

Artist Henna Nadeem has created site-specific, large scale vinyl window installations to sit in three units in West Square which are currently empty.

The designs immediately draw attention with their bold, geometric forms and vibrant colour highlighting unique forms and motifs distinctive to Harlow. Developed from the artist’s research into postwar architecture and architectural features, the designs focus on three main forms from Harlow’s town centre - the Advice Centre, St Paul's Church and Little Walk. By doing so they focus on the changing face of Harlow and highlight a small aspect of the history of the town - St Paul’s original 1950’s window design and architecture can still be seen in Playhouse Square as can the Advice Centre’s facade in East Walk. However the Little Walk motifs have now disappeared from view.

Each design is loosely based around a grid format and a strong palette of colours. Although the windows are all running close to each other the design concept allows for a different design for each window. This is partly to respect each shop as a separate entity but also to allow for the design to stand alone if one or other of the shops is let.

Henna Nadeem found the town a source of inspiration:

“I really enjoyed working in Harlow and discovering its architectural heritage, especially the town’s rich diversity of post war architecture. It is a particular area of interest for me and provided a rich source of material for the project. I look to hopefully working in Harlow again in the future.”

Andrew Bramidge, Chief Executive of Harlow Renaissance who initiated the Window Works scheme commented:
“The project is designed to brighten up and refresh the town centre whilst some units remain empty. I am delighted at the high quality of the installations and of the impact they have on people walking past. Our thanks go to the Harvey Centre who by allowing us to use their units made these installations possible and enabled us to improve the environment in West Square for all those passing through it.”

Bryan Young, Harvey Centre Manager was pleased to be involved:
“Harlow and the Harvey Centre remain competitive in what is a difficult period for retail with a recent raft of new shops opening but, as with everywhere else in the country, some empty units remain empty for a variety of reasons. Henna’s work on this project will brighten up this area of the town, which is essential in the build up to Christmas”.

The project complements the £3million empty shop revival fund from the Homes and Communities Agency from which Harlow Council was awarded £52,000 and the Arts Council Art in Empty Spaces Scheme. The Window Works partnership is now also working with Essex County Council on their Slack Spaces initiative to provide much needed studio provision for local artists. The town centre currently has around 17 empty retail units. This is one of the lowest percentages of empty units in the country, with significantly only a very small number of empty units a result of the current economic crisis. Some units have remained empty as a result of the occupier moving elsewhere in the town whilst others await the major step-change regeneration of the northern part of the town centre (visit http://www.harlowtowncentrenorth.co.uk/ for more information on the planned development).

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West Square Transformed by Colour