Public swimming pool, Crediton, Devon

July 1997 - February 1998.

Commissioned by Mid Devon District Council for the new municipal swimming pool at Crediton. The project consisted of two parts:

1. A mosaic floor to the learner pool
The design uses drawings done by local school children, gathered during workshops carried out in five local schools. The pool floor mosaic was made paper-on-face back in the studio using vitreous mosaic tiles. The design consisted of sea creatures made up in linear fashion using bright, acidic, late Matisse-like colours against a light background. The shapes ripple and wave when the water is disturbed. One requirement in the brief was that no block of colour in the design should be able to confuse pool attendants on the alert for children in trouble.

2. A tiled surround to the whole pool and changing room area
The wall tiles feature images connected to the town of Crediton, again drawn by local school children: St. Boniface, a local historical figure, beside the town church; a Red Devon cow among other images that reflect local agriculture; nearby historical landmarks such as ‘Cromwell’s Cut’; the ‘Tarka Line’ railway, and following that theme, lots of otters and other natural wild life. The images were on-glazed onto standard tiles.

The project was featured in Channel Four’s ‘Collector’s Lot’, who made a mini documentary about how the mosaic was made.