Castle supports London Design Festival

Castle Cement supporting London Design Festival by donating packed grey cement, white cement and a versatile building stone known as Ketton Freestone.

Castle Cement will be supporting London Design Festival in September by donating packed grey cement, white cement and a versatile building stone known as Ketton Freestone, which occurs naturally in the company's limestone quarry at Ketton cement works in Rutland.

Festival organisers have invited leading architects and designers to create sculptures in any chosen material, and these will be on display at prominent public locations throughout the capital.

High profile architects Zaha Hadid and Amanda Levete have already signed up for the festival and four more designers are being consulted.

Amanda Levete was the architect for the futuristic Birmingham Debenhams Store and Lord's cricket ground commentators box and media centre.

"The purpose of the festival is to showcase innovative design to a substantial audience and to push the boundaries of materials through landmark installations that allow the public to marvel at extraordinary forms in unexpected spaces".

"It aims also to blur the boundaries between architecture, design, engineering and sculpture".

"The project will also make use of sometimes neglected or empty public spaces in central London," said Ben Evans, director of the London Design Festival "Cement plays a vital role in the construction process and is more versatile than frequently imagined".

"A good knowledge of the types of cement that are available and the applications where they can be used to best effect are therefore an important aspect of an architect's overall design".

"We are happy to support an initiative such as this," said Stuart Crisp, marketing manager at Castle Cement.

Venues for the designs include public areas at a major station such as Euston, the riverside in front of the Festival Hall, the north terrace in front of the National Gallery, the courtyard of Somerset House, the piazza by the Guildhall, the small open space opposite Heals on Tottenham Court Road, and other spaces across central London.

Back to top