Courtyard Constellation — Denman and Gould

Courtyard Constellation: Public Art for Cumberland Place, Southampton, Commissioned by Tiger Developments, produced by ‘a space’ arts

Courtyard Constellation is a beautiful, contemplative addition to Southamptons new student accommodation, Southampton Crossings. The courtyard creates a meeting point, while also providing a transitional space between the students’ homes and the city.

In a reference to the astronomical observatory that once occupied the site, we mapped 11 star constellations onto a grid. Each constellation represented by a different colour forms an abstract pattern that can be picked out from students’ rooms above - or at floor level. A geometric motif of equilateral triangles echoes the architectural forms used in observatories, and in particular the geodesic structures invented by Buckminster Fuller.

The colour palette is inspired by the hand-painted colour index of old British geological survey maps, developed by artists and scientists in the 19th Century. Over 1200 individual pieces were hand cast by us.

Cumberland Place is home to new student accommodation in Southampton city centre, and we adopted the rich, subtle and meaningful colour palette to celebrate the spirit of exploration and intellectual enquiry that’s essential to education.