GeneralJuly 11th, 2011 - Marchday ‘R.A’!

FAT's beautiful image which caught the eye of the RA judges.

Imagine our surprise! There we were watching BBC2′s ‘The Culture Show’ on Sunday night when, hold on…..was that our masterplan?

Yes, it’s true, the beautiful image produced by masterplan supremos FAT has been included in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition

The exhibition, which has taken place every year since 1769, is the world’s largest open contemporary art event and features paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures.

All artists can submit work, but only the very best items get past the tough selection panel of judges. This year, more than 12,000 artworks were submitted for consideration.

Marchday  appointed award winning architects FAT in 2008 to turn the 107 acre former wool factory into an eco-friendly sustainable mixed community.

John Orchard, Director of Marchday said:

“It’s very exciting and an honour to have an image image of Lingfield Point displayed at such a prestigious exhibition, being viewed by art lovers from around the world. Art is a great passion of ours and influences everything we’re doing here at Lingfield Point.

“We’re creating a community built around the business space with eco-homes, a school, parkland, sports pitches, a health centre, shops and restaurants. FAT’s beautiful image captures the spirit of what we’re working towards – it’s quirky, forward thinking and well thought out.

Sean Griffiths, Director of FAT commented:

“We were asked by the exhibition’s curator to submit drawings from developments we’ve worked on. We like to think we take an unusual and different approach to creating masterplans of projects we’re involved with.

“This is a masterplan that’s quite interesting. There is life, something often short in masterplans. I think we have a very particular approach and in this image it reflects a side of Marchday that’s a little more flamboyant. We think it’s a very strong image, it is to do with style and has a nice quality for an architectural type of drawing.”

The Summer Exhibition runs until the 15th August at the Royal Academy of Arts in Piccadilly, London.

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GeneralJuly 6th, 2011 - Marchday name new residential development partner!

We’re delighted to announce that Marchday will work with development partner Taylor Wimpey to deliver the first phase of new homes in the delivery of the next vital stage of the sustainable mixed community at its Lingfield Point in Darlington.

Taylor Wimpey will build 270 homes in this first phase as part of the overall £100m masterplan vision.

Taylor Wimpey and Marchday are inviting the public to have their say on the latest plans and are hosting a public consultation event on Wednesday, July 13 from 3pm to 7pm and then on for two weeks until July 27 between 8am to 4pm each day in ‘Canteen’ the on site cafe at Lingfield Point.

John Orchard, director of Marchday, the owners of Lingfield Point, said:

“It is fantastic to be working with a company like Taylor Wimpey which has delivered some of the most exciting new homes developments in the UK in recent years, including the award-winning Staiths development on the South Bank of the Tyne at Gateshead, where they worked with top designer Wayne Hemingway.

“These will be the first new homes built in east Darlington for sometime and they will live up to our ethos of modern, low carbon, sustainable development in keeping with our visionary masterplan for the site drawn up by FAT architects.

“We want the new homes to be family-friendly and to use the lessons learned from some of the best housing schemes in Europe. Most people agree that we’ve created some outstanding office buildings at Lingfield Point, now we intend to create some truly outstanding homes too.”

Iain Pay, Associate Land Director of Taylor Wimpey North Yorkshire, said:

“Taylor Wimpey is very excited to be part of this great creation at Lingfield Point. This first phase of housing will be another key building block in creation of this visionary and truly sustainable community.

“A lot of time and thought has gone into the nature of the design of the houses and their surrounding environment, and we are exceptionally pleased with the end product. We are looking forward to revealing this to the public.”

So, come on down and have your say. Building is expected to start in the New Year and homes will be ready for occupation by the middle of next year.

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Cavendish SquareJune 14th, 2011 - Art comes to Cavendish Square, W1!

'Core Femme' by Jill Berelowitz.

 

This iconic piece by Jill Berelowitz has just arrived in Cavendish Sq. The artist explains;

“A towering image of the body’s central element, the core through which life’s energy flows. Curved female torso in bone coloured resin represent stacked vertebrae in this soaring, spinal column. In the language of physiology, the backbone’s uppermost discis named after Atlas, primordial bearer of the heavensand a symbol of endurance in ancient Greek mythology. Thesculpture is similarly mighty, yet graceful: apowerful metaphor for human strength of character, wisdom and spiritual growth.”

www.jillberelowitz.com

Marchday have long felt that Cavendish Square, W1 would be a perfect venue for art and music events and it’s great to see it happening.

At the centre of the square stands another art opportunity, an empty plinth first installed in 1770. The plinth once bore a bronze equestrian sculpture of William Duke of Cumberland. Legend has it that the sculpture was removed for safe keeping during WW2 and that the warehouse in which it was stored was bombed!

The plinth in question.

So, if you’re an artist get in touch and tell us why your work deserves to be centre stage!

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GeneralMay 19th, 2011 - Darlington – just too good?

Marchday have become experts in Regeneration projects. By their nature these tend to be situated in towns and regions which are having a tough time. There has been a lot of talk about Region Growth Fund and Enterprise Zones lately and the regional agencies are in the process of deciding exactly where those zones will be. In all cases the decision will be made on the basis of ‘bangs for bucks’ – maximum impact for every public pound spent.

It seems to us that Darlington, home of our own major regeneration project, Lingfield Point is in a uniquely difficult position as a result of this process; in comparison to it’s neighbours it’s just not bad enough.

Darlington sits at the heart of the Tees Valley and is seen locally as the ‘posh aunt’ of the region. Neighbours Middlesbrough and Redcar have used their reputation for deprivation (often perpetuated by London based journalists) to their advantage. Middlesbrough has woven its grittiness into its new identity as a fun loving, young, university town with an expertise in digital media. Putting yourself in the shoes of a Whitehall civil servant choosing between RGF bids of equal merit in Darlington or Hartlepool you are likely to chose the latter.

This is really bad news for Darlington. It has a grand heritage which is often used against it and a reputation locally as being a bit stuck up. This convenient stereotype is totally unrelated to the facts. Whilst Darlington has an affluent element much of the town is as deprived as it’s more infamous neighbours. It has an unenviable dependency on public sector jobs and in the last year it has risen up the Government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation from 86th to 75th. That’s not good but again, as far as the Government is concerned probably not quite bad enough either. While it’s struggling to find it’s new direction Darlington, like the whole region needs all the help it can get.

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GeneralMay 3rd, 2011 - Marchday’s Jenny China Trek – Day 4 & 5

I’m back from China, having had an amazing trip.
Day 4 – was the toughest day yet, but despite the heavy rain and cold winds, it ended up being the most exhilarating! The climbs were the hardest by far, but despite the rain and low cloud, the scenery was breathtaking, making every step much easier.
Day 5 – this was the last day of trekking. We trekked quite a commercial route, which, after 3 days of trekking isolated sections, it felt quite strange seeing tourists!! We trekked for only 4 hours on this day and celebrated the end of our charity challenge with a bottle of champagne. Everyone felt a little emotional, as we remembered those loved ones lost and the reasons we were taking part in the charity challenge…I for one, know that my mum kept me going along the way.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored me, my challenge may be complete, but if you would still like to sponsor me to raise money for Breast Cancer Campaign, please visit www.justgiving.com/jenny-carr

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