In mid 2009 Marcus approached me with his wonderful idea to locate his bells at suitable waterside locations. As Trinity Buoy Wharf is dedicated as a home for the arts and creative industries we were pleased to welcome the bell as a piece powerful of sculpture. Particularly as each rising tide would activate the bell and mark the natural rhythm of the life of the Thames at Trinity Buoy Wharf.
Marcus’s concerns about climate change are highlighted and particularly focused at TBW as the Thames Valley in London is at clear risk from rising water levels.
The Thames was the mainspring of London and is vitally important to everyone.
The bell helps to attract visitors interest while ringing out a warning that we should not ignore.
Eric Reynolds, Founding Director, Urban Space Management
Is it strong enough to have a bottle of champagne smashed over it? The answer is yes, easily.
Trinity Buoy Wharf is an extraordinary place. In 1998 it was an empty, derelict site. Now it is a place with studios for people in the creative industries, workspace for people who work to provide transportation on the river, classrooms for education, and indoor and outdoor spaces for arts events and a wide range of activities from conferences to product launches.
With over 500 people working on the site, in enterprises large and small, established and start-up, mainstream and way-out, Trinity Buoy Wharf has been given a new life.
The brick buildings are the heritage structures that were built to by and for Trinity House, the organisation that designed, built and maintained the navigational equipment, buoys, lighthouses and lightships that kept Britain’s costal water safe.
The recent buildings were constructed to house the new creative industries using a simple, efficient and sustainable system based on shipping containers.
London’s Docklands changed dramatically with the move down river that was required by the introduction of the much larger ships. At the same time improved technology changed the business of providing navigational lights and Trinity House moved their workshops away from the Thames.
And, as in all creative enterprises, nothing stands still, things and the people doing them are constantly evolving. The mantra “always complete but never finished” fits Trinity Buoy Wharf today and will tomorrow.
With careful adaption and regeneration, Trinity Buoy Wharf has kept its character whilst offering modern amenities: studio and event space, a pier, two schools, rehearsal rooms, The Orchard Cafe and Fat Boy’s Diner and 40,000 sq ft of new, innovative and sustainable Container City buildings.
The bell is mounted above a stairway down to a shingle beach, exposed at low tide. This protects it from any possible damage from moored or passing ships at high tide.
Located just across the river from the O2 (formerly the Dome), and downstream from Canary Wharf, it's hard to imagine a more dramatic urban landscape for the bell.
