Public Art Commission, Broadway Didcot

Description

South Oxfordshire District Council is commissioning an artist to design and fabricate a bespoke metal gateway forming part of the wider redevelopment of 116-120 Broadway, Didcot. The gateway will mark the transition from the busy Broadway frontage into a semi-private communal courtyard serving new homes and Class E spaces within a mixed-use, affordable housing development. The redevelopment seeks to regenerate a prominent town centre site along Didcot's Broadway, contributing to the Didcot Garden Town 'Cultural Spine' and supporting ambitions for a high-quality, welcoming and distinctive public realm. The project combines new housing, the retrofit of a historic shopfront building, and active ground-floor uses, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, accessibility and long-term quality. This commission is identified within the Didcot Garden Town Public Art Plan as part of a broader ambition to embed high-quality, integrated public art within key regeneration sites and movement corridors across the town. Didcot Garden Town promotes public art not as an add-on, but as an intrinsic element of placemaking, helping to shape identity, enhance the public realm, and improve the everyday experience for residents and visitors as the town continues to grow and change. The gateway is envisaged as a functional and sculptural artwork, integrated into the architectural metalwork package for the site.