A13 Artscape

Charlton Crescent Subway

Just a couple of hundred yards away from Movers Lane, artist Anu Patel has designed a whole new approach to both the northern and southern entrances of Charlton Crescent Subway, which runs underneath the A13, linking the northern and southern residential areas of this junction.

York Stone and green slate have been used to create dramatic facades at each end, reaching up to the A13 road above and defining a space that is both bold and dramatic while completely sympathetic to the surroundings, complemented further still by the parapet fence Anu also designed.

The subway opens out to a previously obscured waterway and path that links the subway to Movers Lane, a presence that Anu has reflected in her designs.

Constructed of clear glass and resin, the floor 'pools' at the entrances and flows through the subway like water, embedded with snaking fibre optic cables that run through the colour wheel on a rotational basis.

This is further enhanced by colour in the subway and the installation of sequenced LED lighting bands positioned at regular intervals along the circular 'bore' of the tunnel, that also move through a lighting sequence.

As with Gale Street Subway, the lighting and installations have been designed with full consultation about access issues, particularly around the use of colour lighting that might affect visually impaired people.

The result is a truly exciting experience and benchmark for subway refurbishment.

Charlton subway artwork