Light and sound art installation planned outside former fire station

A series of columns are set to be installed outside the Old Fire Station in Bournemouth as part of a new art installation.

Named “Chine Forest”, the Holdenhurst Road feature will be made up of 26 pillars which will light up and can play sound.

Planning permission has been granted to BCP Council for the project, which is part of the multi-million pound “transformation” of the Lansdowne area.

Work on the scheme started earlier this year with the construction of new pavements and the protected cycle lane.

The aim had originally been to completely pedestrianise the area but this idea was scrapped, partly due to the concerns of bus companies.

One of the key features of the project is a planned new public space which will feature the new arts installation.

It will be made up of 26 pillars of varying heights installed outside the Old Fire Station which will light up and play sound

“The columns will form a kind of forest of miniature sounds coming from multiple small speakers positioned at varying heights, that entice and engage visitors,” a statement submitted by the council said.

“The different scenes might be inspired by ecosystems and natural phenomena from the area local to Bournemouth, for example the dawn chorus of local birds, hydrophone recordings of local fish and crustaceans or the phasing patterns of shipping beacons,” it added. “These kinds of sound – by virtue of being alien to the immediate environment – pique visitors’ attention and draw them in.”

Planning permission will allow the lights to be used between 8am and 4am every day with sound permitted between 8am and midnight. The council said the full hours would not usually be used.

But it said it would give it “flexibility” to cater for any events and seasonal demand.

The council’s planning department had originally suggested permission be refused but said tweaks to the design meant the impact on the listed former fire station building was now “acceptable”.

“Great weight has been given to the protection of the listed building due to the recommendation to refuse the initial proposals and significant negotiation has been carried out to ensure that the proposal is sympathetic to the setting,” a report by planning officer Joscelyn Holbrook said.

The changes included altering the heights of the columns to better match elements of the building.

The installation will be part of the new public space included in the £7.7 million Lansdowne project.