Abundance at the amphitheatre – ADC

Greeting visitors to Paddington’s amphitheatre is Abundance. Designed by Adam Nathaniel Furman, who was born just a stone’s throw away at St Mary’s hospital, the artwork, as its name suggests, abounds with colour — and delight.

Gently tracing and demarcating a walkway to the amphitheatre at Sheldon Square, Abundance, makes use of sheet metal, typically used in construction, to bring an array of bright and bold colours to the area. Reds, yellows, oranges, blues, purples, greens can all be spotted along the artwork that guides visitor’s eyes around the recently revamped amphitheatre through a vibrant composition of colour that plays on perspective along the work of public art that spans 50 metres, rising to four-and-a-half metres high at its tallest.

Speaking to Architecture Today, Furman described how the colours are abstracted embodiments of the gardens, “or a lush garden at full bloom in late spring.”

“The form is based on sheet piling of the kind that’s used to cordon off the foundations of buildings around paddington basin during construction to keep water out, and which are still visible in places, but the ‘module’ changes along the length,” he said.

Abundance is also a welcome splash of colour to the area, set against a ten-storey-high, curvaceous, glass-clad office building, One Sheldon Square, designed by Sidell Gibson Architects. The work responded to a brief that called for an artwork along a length of greystone wall, and that could be moved in future if needed. The work is Furman’s first permanent work in the area. In 2019, the Paddington Pyramid – a fluttering tower, also rich with colour, was commissioned as a temporary structure for the London Festival of Architecture.

“Abundance is a profoundly meaningful project for me. Having been born, worked and spent so much time in the area surrounding Paddington Central, the area is embedded deep within my practice,” Furman said in a statement. “Being able to be a part of filling Sheldon Square with the uplifting colours of nature, through this new permanent artwork, fills me with joy.”

Further change is coming to the area as well, with Morris and Company working with Gillespies to revamp Three Sheldon Square (an adjacent office block) and Carmody Groarke adding a 19-storey boutique hotel to the corner of the British Land-owned site.

Rob Stickland, estate director at Paddington Central added, “The new artwork by Adam Nathaniel Furman is a brilliant addition to Paddington Central and has already enhanced and better connected the open spaces within the area. At Paddington Central, creating thriving places is at the heart of what we do, and we hope that by introducing a new installation filled with colour and vibrancy, it allows visitors to find an enticing place to unwind within a busy capital.”