Aylesbury Transport Hub

Designs by Laura Boswell for the underpass artwork

Artist - Laura Boswell

The largest piece of original enamel artwork in Europe

In 2007,  Aylesbury Vale District Council secured funding from Arts Council England’s Arts Plus scheme to commission local artists to produce public art ideas for the Aylesbury Transport Hub development. As a result, Buckinghamshire County Council in partnership with AVDC and AJ Wells employed local artist Laura Boswell to create an artwork capturing the rural landscape of Aylesbury Vale as part of the improvements to the bus station underpass.

Measuring 170 metres long and 4.8 metres tall the artwork is the largest piece of original enamel work in Europe and lines both sides of Great Western Street underpass, at the entrance to Aylesbury's bus station. The design will be viewed by the thousands that each year pass through Great Western Street, alongside the bus station.

Section of the finished enamal artwork showing the rural landscape of Aylesbury Vale

Costing £478,000, the project is part of the Aylesbury public transport hub improvements by Buckinghamshire County Council, which have also included the new Bourg Walk bridge.
Laura worked with AJ Wells – the company responsible for printing all of London Transport’s enamel signage – to produce more than 200 enamel panels. The designs created by Laura were fired directly onto the panels.

“The work began with observational drawings taken from around the Vale,” explained Laura.
“From these I took field shapes and land forms and reassembled them to create two massive landscapes, rather like a patchwork quilt, to both conjure a feeling for the Vale and to suit Great Western Street. I designed the landscapes to move through the seasons along the length of the street and I hope people will enjoy seeing various parts of the Vale in their new context.”

The actual process undertaken is explained in detail, complete with images form the production process, on Laura’s website, which you can access from the link below.

Date Updated: 30/03/11