BS1 Artist

What has fascinated me about my time so far on the building site, are two aspects of the same thing. Firstly the huge temporary community of staff, well in excess of two thousand, that have been drawn to Bristol from around the world to realise this development. And secondly the fact that material’s to build Cabot Circus, likewise, have come from across the UK and beyond. The projects I have developed seek to explore this coming together of people and stuff to build Cabot Circus and the legacy and impact that might have.

As well as being built by a workforce from over fifty different nations, the materials used to construct the new Cabot centre are procured and processed from right around the world. There are people involved directly in the building of a new city centre for Bristol who are unlikely ever to see it. Likewise, once the buildings are complete and functioning, all those people so intimately involved will soon be forgotten.

The intention is to trace the journey of one Kerbstone from quarry face in China to installation in Broadmead. I propose making a trip to China, visiting and recording the quarry and factory, – acquiring one single Kerbstone, inscribed in some way [yet to be determined] by those involved. The stone will then be brought back to Bristol overland by train and truck by me.

Once in Bristol the Kerbstone will be installed in the street [site to be determined] – a touchstone for those who notice. In addition the documented journey will exist as a record of the process of one single element in the whole development.

The kerbstones, though very visible, are probably one of the most mundane elements in the scheme as a whole. How often have you looked down when you are crossing the street and thought about what you are standing on? And yet in the refurbished streets around Broadmead you are likely to be standing on a very small piece of China. The granite used in Broadmead is G654 and is from the Jia Jhing quarry in the Fujian Province of China.

Although the intention is to respond creatively, there are serious issues which underpin this idea; Issues of sustainability and social responsibility when sourcing material from very different countries and cultures.

This whole journey has been made possible by Kevin Hives of Stonepave UK who are the contract suppliers for Broadmead. They are arranging access to the quarry which is owned by the Chinese government and to their factories in China. Without their fantastic support this project would not be possible.

Over the next few years thousands of people will be in involved in the planning and building of this site. To achieve that, the workforce has been drawn from right across Europe and beyond. In fact fifty-nine different nationalities are currently working here, so the site really does represent a global community.

Food uniquely defines our individual heritage and in an effort to reflect the global nature of the workforce, Bristol Alliance artist Neville Gabie, wants to make a recipe book from your contributions of your favourite meals from home.

In return for submitting your ideal recipe, once a month one will be selected, prepared by chefs from a top Bristol restaurants, including Mud Dock, and served to you and a selected group of your friends on site during your lunch break.

‘CANTEEN’ The building site recipe book, will be published to co-inside with the opening of the new Cabot Circus Centre. As well as documenting the varied recipes, it will include photographs of all the specially prepared meals served on site and will work as a record of the numerous people involved in building this site.

All the reinforcing steel being used onsite to build the carpark for Cabot Circus is 100% recycled. It is supplied by Celsa, a Spanish owned steelworks in Cardiff which probably has one of the most modern plants in Europe where everything that passes through the factory gates is recycled.

The intention is to consider that idea by recycling one car and following its journey from Bristol, via the scrap and steel works, before returning it back to Bristol, only now as reinforcing bar for use onsite.

A Ford Mondeo estate was bought online on EBay from Paul, who lives two miles from the development site. Although an accident right-off, it was still roadworthy and I was able to drive it to Simms Metals, a scrap yard in Newport. Once there the car was de-polluted and ‘fragged’ or shredded. The 680 kgs of steel from the car then made another short journey to Celsa in Cardiff where it was melted down and turned into 32mm re-bar. My biggest anxiety, how to track my exact 680kgs of Ford Mondeo throughout the process, was unbelievably easy to resolve. From the moment the scrap steel is lifted into the furnace it is given a ‘cast number’ which lives with it for ever. 680kgs of 32mm re-bar is enough to make the steelwork for one and a half concrete columns in the new carpark. Columns have been identified on the third and fourth levels. The steel has been made up and it is only now a matter of pouring the concrete

A collaboration between Neville Gabie, David Ogden and The City of Bristol Choir

One of the aspects of building development on this scale that is fascinating is the diverse, temporary community of site and office staff that have been brought together. On any one day there are something like two thousand site workers from heavy construction to crane drivers and canteen staff, as well as large teams of onsite architects, site managers, procurement, engineering, surveyors and countless other specialist skills. Reflecting the UK as a whole, what has been most revealing is the incredible ethnic mix on site, with a significant percentage of site workers from Eastern Europe and beyond. Many might stay in Bristol after the completion of the development, so it is interesting to reflect how this might influence the cultural diversity of the city and how can the moment be marked positively?

Walking around the site on any day there is a mixture of sounds, languages and songs that is truly international. With that in mind Neville Gabie initiated a collaborative project around the idea of national songs working with David Ogden and the City of Bristol Choir.

Over one week in spring 2007 Neville Gabie and David Ogden spent time onsite asking site and office staff to sing a song from their home country. Contributions varied hugely in content and style, but over the course of that week more than twenty five contributions covering several nationalities were made. Those songs formed the basis of a musical score developed by David Ogden. Many of the songs were then learnt in the different languages to be performed by the City of Bristol Choir on the building Site in the empty shell of what will be the new House of Fraser store and to an audience in St James Priory.

The Cabot Circus Cantata, intended as a celebration of the onsite diversity A DVD of the songs as they were recorded on the building site with an accompanying publication will be launched in spring 2008