NEWS 7ADF FEBRUARY 2020 WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
A planning application has now been
submitted for The Wall of Answered Prayer,
a new sculpture planned for a site in
Coleshill, near Birmingham.
This piece of public art, designed
by Southampton-based architectural
practice Snug Architects, will consist
of one million bricks – with each
brick representing an “answered prayer.”
The architects’ interpretation of
The Wall depicted as a Mobius strip won
top spot in a global competition launched
by the Royal Institute of British Architects
in 2016.
Beating a field of 133 entries from 25
countries, the Snug winning concept was
first finalised in a field of five, before being
selected as the standout design in May 2019
by a judging panel of “industry experts and
national influencers.”
The application for the landmark
structure was submitted to North
Warwickshire Borough Council, which
validated the submission in early January.
The documents outline the project’s
associated visitor centre and public open
space, including a car park and landscaped
gardens, where visitors will “be able to
relax and reflect on the relevance and
power of prayer,” said the architects.
With construction due to be complete in
2022, The Wall of Answered Prayer will sit
close to both the M6 and M42 and rise 50metres into the sky, to be seen by an
estimated 500,000 journeys each week
across the two motorways, as well as the
new HS2, and flight paths in and out of
Birmingham airport.
Construction for The Wall of Answered
Prayer is due to start in December 2020.Snug Architects’ ‘Wall of Answered Prayer’
sculpture submitted for planning
SCULPTURE
The architects of the reclad of Grenfell
Tower, Studio E, were appointed
by the Royal Borough of Kensington
and Chelsea to the project despite
being “a little green” on the technical
expertise required, the inquiry into the
tragedy was told.
Building Designreported that
Stephanie Barwise, counsel for survivors
and residents, told the inquiry that the
practice was chosen “apparently on the
grounds of speed and convenience alone,”
as it was already working on a school and
leisure centre at the foot of the tower. She
accused all of the professional firmsinvolved of displaying incompetence
on fire safety.
Studio E had designed the adjacent
Kensington Academy and Leisure
Centre (KALC), but Barwise claimed
that the architect, council and Grenfell
Tower’s management organisation
(TMO) shared the belief that the
tower’s “shabby appearance detracted
from its new neighbour.” She suggested
aesthetic concerns were dominant in the
drive to reclad the building, and that
the success of the KALC “remained
the council’s priority throughout.”
The inquiry was also told that thenormal ‘Ojeu’ procurement process was
circumvented in the project, which
“would have ensured transparent
competition, and should have resulted in
the most suitable and qualified
professionals being appointed.”
The project’s architect Neil Crawford
was also previously accused, in a
statement on behalf of bereaved survivors
and residents, of signing off design
drawings from the facade contractor
which did not comply with Building
Regulations. The statement also alleged
that he did not receive adequate support
from Studio E.Grenfell Tower architects appointed despite having no
experience of high-rise, inquiry told
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