A13 Artscape

Gale Street Subway

Passing beneath the A13, Gale Street Subway provides a vital pedestrian link between Scrattons Farm Estate and Dagenham via Gale Street at Castle Green.

The original brief involved a redesign of this key facility; however, after an initial site visit, artist Pat Kaufman persuaded the commissioning bodies that it should be expanded to include a substantial reconstruction of both 'approach ways'.

Her final design includes the creation of 2 park areas, planting, landscaping and architectural features as well as the creation of 10 original niche sculptures placed within the newly retiled and illuminated subway, making this one of the largest and most extensive A13 Artscape projects.

Pat's intention has been to supply a sense of continuity and belonging to an environment otherwise stripped of historical references.

In creating the park areas she has taken London's Roman past as a source of inspiration, constructing terraced sites implying earlier occupation and which evoke the culturally rich atmosphere and architecture of the Mediterranean by means of stone work, blind arches, lighting and planting.

The pedestrian pathway passes from the scented terraces to an underground passageway of hidden jewels and treasures.

The tiling of the subway has been designed to reflect the styles of Victorian museums and the London Underground.

Set into the walls are 10 niche sculptures; made of coloured resin in steel frames with integral LED lighting, the sculptures function as memory cabinets, referencing and commemorating local historical events from pre-historical times to the recent industrial past.

4 specially designed light markers on the highway level are the only indication of the otherwise unseen complex below the level of the road surface.

Gale Street Subway artwork