Period: 2021
Client: Bellway Homes
Project: Roman Road Stelae Pillars, Derbyshire, UK.
To commemorate a Roman Road the artist Stuart Mugridge was commissioned to design a suitable and durable pieces to indicate the line of the road and its history. In Roman times, stelae were occasionally used as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines.
A set of 9 reinforced graphic stelae columns ranging from 0.7 to 1.7m in height, and 0.5m diameter were cast in a striking, high contrast red granite.
Each with a single sunken lifting socket, once installed, could be easily filled.
To produce the artists design in a red granite visual precast concrete to be aesthetically pleasing, tactile and durable. The patterns where to be exposed areas of aggregate to contrast against the ex-mould fair face.
The taller stelae columns were cast in gradual single pours to avoid banding or bulging. Mix design used GGBS to lower the carbon impact and lighten the fair face, with the fines of the granite giving a subtle pink hue to the finish surface.
Once fully cured, each had a unique pattern that was vinyl printed and etched in through grit blasting.
After installation, the filed lifting sockets were professionally retouched to blend in with adjoining surfaces.