Bright lights in the big City Park

The site will eventually house a holding tank for a 4,200sq metre mirror pool – the largest city centre water feature in the UK – at the heart of the six-acre park.

Work has got underway putting the 17m galvanised steel lighting columns in place that have been designed to look like stylised reeds and rushes sitting at the edge of the park’s mirror pool.

It is the latest step towards completion of the Bradford Council project this winter. Earlier this month three sculptures by Wolfgang Buttress were delivered on site. The final stage of their installation, involving polishing and filling of the stone pieces, is due to be completed this week while workers are also close to laying the last of more than 277,000 granite cubes at the base of the mirror pool.

All ten lighting columns, which have also been designed by Wolfgang Buttress, are due to be in place by the end of October.

Coun David Green, Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration and economy, said: “The arrival of these lighting units is another visible sign that City Park is ‘coming to life.’

“They have been designed to complement their setting around the mirror pool and given their size they should be a striking feature in the park.”

Artist, Wolfgang Buttress, said: “The lighting columns will serve a practical purpose within City Park but hopefully do so in a quiet and elegant way.

“I’ve tried to reflect the discreet nature of reeds and rushes sitting at the water’s edge in the design and choice of materials.”

The six-acre £24.4m City Park will include the biggest man-made water feature in a UK city as well as a hundred fountains and is designed to create a vibrant public space that supports the Bradford district economy over the long-term.