Tess Jaray was commissioned to create an artwork within Emrys Architects' redesign of 23/4 Newman Street, a Great Portland Estates redevelopment providing office space and 23 residential units. Built in terrazzo, the colours and proportions of her striped design are inspired by the new façade and the surrounding street. The terrazzo continues inside and inhabits the whole of the floor of the building’s entrance lobby, where it is accompanied by a series of prints by the artist. The artist’s involvement continues on the upper levels with the same design realised in the pattern of the carpet in the circulation areas.
‘The principles underlying my design of the paving for 23/24 Newman Street are simplicity, appropriateness and enjoyment. It is bold, classic, and subtly in keeping with the modern framework of the building. Terrazzo is an ancient and well-tested material, hard-wearing and practical, and is already used in several places in Newman Street. The colours are chosen for clarity, warmth, and to relate to the many similar reds and off- whites in the brickwork and paintwork in the rest of Newman Street. One could also say ‘satisfaction’ in the way the building is ‘set off’ by the simple stripes, and in the subtle signifying of the building as it is approached’. Tess Jaray
