A £675,000 investment has seen a Belfast car park transformed into an exciting new ‘eco space’ for the public. Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland unveiled the space which sits directly on top of the Donegall Quay underground car park. The space is designed to form a new social area for locals to relax beside the River Lagan. It is a mix of grassy areas and seated spaces.
Several public artworks and sculptures are included throughout the park. Sammy the Seal is the nickname of a sea-lion (s) that frequent the estuary of Belfast Lough where the River Lagan meets the Irish Sea. The Big Fish is an artwork by John Kindness. Camlins organised a competitive artist selection and managed the commission of the successful artist, John Kindness. The resulting giant salmon on Donegall Quay has become one of the best loved and most photographed landmarks of Belfast. It celebrates the return of salmon to the River Lagan to breed. Camlins collaborated with the artist on the setting for the artwork and the lighting.
When developing the aesthetic of Donegal Quay, amongst the last quays open to the Public in Belfast’s Riverside regeneration, it was important to the leading Urban Landscape Designer Anthony McGuigan from landscape architects The Paul Hogarth Company, that Sammy played a part in his vision for the street-scape. Today, Sammy can be seen rising from ‘a sea’ of granite paving and setts supplied by Hardscape Ireland. That ‘sea’ was made up from a blend of select, high technical quality granites: Jinan Blue, Kobra & Mist supported with deep blue sea wide borders to grassland of premium Non-Fossil Kilkenny Blue limestone.
The works project was completed by White Mountain Quarries Ltd and Hardscape are proud to have supported both landscape architect and contractor in delivering an improved shared space to the riverside of Belfast.
