The Ferrybridge Cooling Tower Sculpture Project
A side view of the proposed sculpture on a single cooling tower at Ferrybridge in Yorkshire
Anyone travelling north along the AI cannot fail to notice the Ferrybridge Power Station on the right at the junction with the M62. The map below provides a vague idea of where it is. It’s very central and on the junction of two huge motorways. It is owned and run by SSE (Scottish Southern Electrical).
In March 2016, Ferrybridge C Power Station ceased operations, as coal-powered power stations are now being phased out. A new multi-fuel power station has been built alongside and a second one is currently under construction.
After much consultation, it seems they will be keeping three of the towers, whilst the rest are making way for a new gas powered power station. It would be a terrible shame for all eight of the cooling towers to be destroyed as they truly represent a huge chunk of the history of the local community over the last 100 years.
They are iconic. You cannot miss them as you drive up either motorway and they can be seen for miles. When driving north (or south) they are a kind of a measure…. .”When we get to Ferrybridge…..”, and pilots of small planes navigate by them. They are close to Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Doncaster and are therefore close to a fairly large chunk of the population in that area.
Inspiration for this project;
After watching the video of the making of the Baha’i Temple in Chile and being deeply inspired by it, I was on my way north, driving past Ferrybridge and all of a sudden I could ‘see’ waves of ‘light’ pouring over the sides of one of the towers, down the sides and weaving into the fabric of the tower itself. It was a most inspiring vision. Each time I drove past the same vision came, and I knew I had to put something together and make a proposal to SSE.
The Baha’i Temple in Chile (see below) is all about light. A truly inspirational project. See the video of the making of the Temple at this link. http://bit.ly/2ppxsFZ
The Ferrybridge Power station in 2016, prior to its decommissioning.
In 2018, I presented a project proposal to the Directors of SSE to save one of the eight towers and turn it into a unique piece of art on the outside, whilst the inside would offer both a remarkable artistic experience and also an array of activities that would inspire people to visit, participate and revisit. It could be a blend of future, past and entertainment, offering a broad scope of interests and activities, revitalising the local community and offering much-needed jobs. I also proposed that attached to the outside of the tower, interweaving in and out of the sculptural waves coming down the sides of the tower, could be the highest and longest helter-skelter in the world. Bear in mind each tower is 135 metres high and the diameter at the base is 88 metres. They are huge!
Sadly the response was negative, but it was given due consideration;
“The essence of the discussion was that as there will continue to be operational activities on the site SSE would not be in a position to take the proposal forward at this time. It was also noted that as the cooling towers are designed to collapse inwardly in the event of incident or demolition, there would require to be very substantial understanding of and probable adjustment to the structural strength in the event that such a project were ever to materialise. The Board were impressed at the amount of research you had done and could see the seriousness with which the proposal was made.”
Three of the Towers are still there, and they have plans to create a new gas-powered power station on the site. Proposals for the new plant, which will be known as Ferrybridge ‘D’ CCGT will have a generating capacity of up to 2,000MW, are being put forward as part of re-development at the site.
Images presented to the Board - with written information taken from the proposal.
The vision
Below you will find images of drawings of the proposed idea. In effect, it would be three waves of ‘light’, looking a bit like fabric and loosely based on the idea of the mist and the nearby river, emanating from the top of the tower in three different directions (all round visual) which tumble down the sides of the cooling tower (a bit like a river) and as it tumbles, so it begins to merge with the cooling tower itself until the lower part of the cooling tower comes alive with light, like patterns of light on water (and looking like bolts of electricity). The ‘fabric’ would be made up of a steel holding structure, bolted into the sides of the tower and attached to that would be opaque glass (or a similar material). It would also have a ‘stained glass’ effect which in turn breaks up as it merges into the tower. During the day, the glass would glow in the daylight, whilst at night, projectors would beam lights onto the structure providing a vivid visual (and changeable) show, bringing the cooling tower to life.
The Cooling tower from the front and from the back - waves of light emerging from the inside and running down the sides, merging eventually with the tower itself.
On the inside, if you were to look upwards, the three ‘waves’ of light will fuse together into a glass dome. On looking up, using light projectors, viewers will see a fascinating array of light patterns, shapes and stories which should be quite beautiful to observe, for example of the way frequencies adjust and change matter, a natural and very beautiful phenomenon. I have always been moved by the natural order of things, the way everything breaks down into such beautiful geometrical shapes, and that the golden section (so revered in art) is so much a natural part of everything around us. I am also aware that the ancients (Stonehenge, the Mayans and the Egyptians amongst many others) understood all this and used ‘sacred geometry’ to make/build/design their temples and cities in a very specific way.
The easiest way to see how geometry and waves of energy play such an important part in the world around us is to watch what happens when different frequencies are projected onto a water droplet. As the waves increase in tempo, so the geometric designs created in the droplet become more and more complicated. It is a joy to watch. Watch this video. http://bit.ly/2DgjCYC.
. It would have been a bit like a virtual reality world, without having to wear a VR mask. The projectors and other electrical equipment could possibly have been powered by solar panels in a bank on one side of the car park.
The whole structure would have a deep soulful significance; our inner strength, our sense of who we are, our sense of being all comes from the soul, rather than the mind, the ego or from the world outside us. It will therefore be a reminder that the driving light that infuses us all comes from within. As Vivekanada once said, ‘You have to grow from the inside out…There is no other teacher but your own soul’.
An illustration of some activities going on on the inside of the tower which could include a 360 degree Virtual Reality show on the walls and even a massive internal roller coaster. It is such a large space that whole buildings could be sited inside.
It is a shame that this project was never accepted by the company. It would have been quite amazing and would have been an outstanding visible iconic piece of sculpture, utilising old and redundant structures, creating employment as well as a substantial income for SSE.
If you would like to read the proposal, please click on link below.