BGS welcomes Glasgow’s new Hope Sculpture at Cunningar Loop

The 23 m-high Hope Sculpture is located in the beautiful woodland park of Cuningar Loop, part of Clyde Gateway, Scotland’s biggest and most ambitious regeneration programme.

Cuningar Park was once a major contributor to the industrial revolution and was once the location of Farme Colliery from 1805 to 1931, the last colliery to be worked within the Glasgow city boundary. Today, it is also home to Glasgow’s UK geoenergy observatory. The observatory, led by BGS, is observing flooded mine workings beneath the east end of the city to explore how geoenergy can help to deliver clean economic growth.

The Hope Sculpture will serve as a beacon of hope and positivity towards reaching global environmental milestones and a reminder that we as a society do care about each other and our planet. It forms part of a major city-wide public art installation by leading artist and designer Steuart Padwick, sited at three locations across Glasgow for COP26 and beyond.

The Hope Sculpture started as a conversation with Ramboll and became a gift from 50 companies to Glasgow. It is a testament to the power of collaboration and dedication to deliver a better future.

Steuart Padwick, artist and designer.

The Hope Sculpture stands in synchronicity with an innovative underground observatory just a few hundred metres away, repurposing old coal mine workings for renewable heat. Together, they symbolise how we can re-imagine on our industrial legacy and look forward to a greener future.

Alison Monaghan MBE, British Geological Survey.

In addition to the Hope Sculpture at Cunnigar Loop, which has been made possible with support from Clyde Gateway, a 4.5 m-high Beacon of Hope is located at the city’s architecturally significant Glasgow Central Station, in partnership with Network Rail.

A further 3.5 m-high Hope Triptych is located at the University of Strathclyde’s Rottenrow Gardens, in partnership with University of Strathclyde. Visitors will be encouraged to access the sculptures via a walking and cycling route that connects the pieces.

Each sculpture is being constructed using low carbon, reclaimed, recycled or sustainable materials, of which almost all have been locally sourced. It is a showcase for how leading industry partners are committed to build more sustainably, as we transition to a net zero future. The build demonstrates a 75 per cent lower carbon impact.

The monumental Hope Sculpture features an age-, gender- and race-neutral child embracing surrounding nature and reaching out to a greener, more hopeful future. The child stands above towering, 20 m-high elegant columns that take their form from the brick chimney stalks that once littered the East End of Glasgow. Unlike its predecessors, this deconstructed chimney stalk is made from an innovative new low-carbon, 100 per cent cement-free concrete incorporating locally sourced aggregates and recycled crushed glass in the child.

All lighting will be soft, low-energy and respectful of the environment and local wildlife, using fittings designed and manufactured in Scotland for the Circular Economy.

The principal build partners for the project include lead consultant Ramboll, lead contractor Urban Union (part of Robertson Group), Aggregate Industries (member of Holcim) and Keltbray.