Metcalf Way Linear Park
2022
This project reimagines a well-used pedestrian and cycle corridor between Metcalf Way and County Oak Way, transforming it into a distinctive art-scape that invites people to sit, socialise, and soak up the sun.
The design intent was to reclaim this underutilised stretch by reducing visual clutter, removing unsightly bollards, bunds, and mismatched fencing, and introducing sculptural retaining walls, seating, and riparian planting. These interventions not only enhance the ecological value of the site but also create a rhythm of spaces that encourage informal gatherings, rest, and reflection.
By integrating public art and climate-conscious landscaping, the corridor becomes both a functional route and a place of identity, storytelling, and community connection. The park becomes the art, an evolving canvas for local engagement and placemaking.
The site is located in the north west corner of the Business District and forms part of Bridleway 1525 that connects Manor Royal to Langley Green. Specifically, the site is a strip of land connecting Metcalf Way to the south to County Oak Way to the north. Zone 1 (Yellow)
The overall design for the site is based on the concept of time and the phrasing suggested by ‘Yesterday’s journey, tomorrow’s path, and a pause for today’. The public artworks at either end are based on the “lives of an oak” reflective of the presence of oak trees around the site.
The artist, Stephen Broadbent, conceives the site as a journey through space and time. With two “gateway” art works at either end – one representing the past (Yesterday) and another representing the future (Tomorrow). As you walk between the two you experience the present (Today) represented by the seating and the people themselves living and resting in the moment.
Artist: Stephen Broadbent
The stone for both sculptures have been sourced from British quarries.
Moorcroft stone (a hard limestone or near marble) from a quarry in Devon has been used for the carved seed or acorn of the “Tomorrow” sculpture, that depicts images representative of Manor Royal’s DNA and future.
For the “Yesterday” sculpture, and the fins of the “Tomorrow” sculpture, Orton Scarr has been used which is a fine grained limestone of early
carboniferous age, quarried in Cumbria. The “Yesterday” sculpture is based on an oak tree with the rings of the tree pushed outwards suggesting the bellows of an old-fashioned camera looking into the past.
