Fir Table
Mulberry Park, Bath
Artist Peter Marigold was selected by a panel including local residents to create an artwork as part of the new Community Hub at Mulberry Park, Bath. He was commissioned to research, design, fabricate and install a permanent art intervention linked to the new building and integrated into the wider development that includes housing, a new school and a nursery.
The art commission, an outdoor table cast into iron from fir planks, references the history of the Foxhill site in the time of Ralph Allen, who grew fir trees there to make props for his Combe Down stone mines – the ‘Bath stone’ that built Georgian Bath. Peter’s research included a visit to Bath Cornerstone, which celebrates the history of the stone mines, and Bath Record Office, which holds Ralph Allen’s original estate map.
This project forms part of a major investment in the area by housing association and house-builder Curo, recognising the unique value that artists can bring to new developments and in engaging with communities. The £10m community hub, primary school and children’s nursery sits at the heart of the Mulberry Park development fronting onto a new public square.
Designed by internationally renowned architects BDP as a beacon for the local community, the new community hub includes a café, meeting rooms, multifunctional spaces and an enterprise area with lettable space for a range of businesses. The primary school and 70-place children’s nursery opened at Mulberry Park in September 2018, and the Hub opened late in 2018.
About the artist
Peter Marigold (b.1974) is a renowned artist and designer based in London. He has become known for his innovative furniture designs in wood but works across many other materials including metal, plaster and Jesmonite. In his work, Marigold is interested in exploring the natural processes and chemical reactions that transform the surface of materials over time.
Peter studied Sculpture at Central St Martins, and worked in theatrical and event scenography for a time before studying for the Product Design MA at the Royal College of Art, where he was taught by Ron Arad. He has subsequently created shelving for Paul Smith, a reception desk for the V& A Museum of Childhood in London and exhibits regularly at Milan’s furniture fair and Design Miami. He also teaches on the BA Furniture course at London Metropolitan University where he leads the Harvest studio. Peter is currently working on a major public commission for Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children as part of a therapeutic design programme. He was recently shortlisted for the £10k Woman’s Hour Craft Prize and will feature at a related exhibition the Victoria & Albert Museum in London from 7 September 2017 – 5 /February 2018.