Six finalists in a competition to find the electricity pylon of the future were unveiled today with designs ranging from one shaped like a spinnaker to one entitled 'Flower Tower’.
Scale models of the six '
Pylon of the Future’ designs went on display at the
V&A museum as part of the
London Design Festival today. The winning one could become a common site across the UK landscape, carrying electricity from power stations to communities as part of the UK’s goals for a
greener energy infrastructure.
"Britain will see the equivalent of 20 new power stations constructed by 2020, and we need to use electricity pylons to get this new, low carbon energy to your televisions and toasters, dishwashers and DVD players," Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said as he unveiled the new designs. "We must make sure that we take into account the visual impact on the landscape and also the view of the public, and this is what the pylon design competition is all about."
Design finalists
The designs finalists, picked from 250 submissions from around the world are: 'Plexus’, by Amanda Levete Architects and Arup; 'Silhouette’ by Ian Ritchie Architects and Jane Wernick Associates
; 'Totem’ by New Town Studio Structure Workshop; 'T-Pylon’ by Bystrup Architecture, Design and Engineering
; 'Y-Pylon’ by Knight Architects with Roughan & O’Donavon, and ESB International in association with MEGA; 'Flower Tower’ by Gustafson Porter with Atelier One and Pfisterer.
The competition is being run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and National Grid. In a joint statement, they said the competition’s aim was to find a pylon design that "has the potential to deliver for future generations, whilst balancing the needs of local communities and preserving the beauty of the countryside".
There are more than 88,000 pylons in the UK, including 22,000 on National Grid’s main network in England and Wales. National Grid is hoping the competition will produce a pylon that uses new innovative technologies and materials that could be used in future projects. Sir Reginald Blomfield’s familiar steel lattice pylon design has been in use since the 1920s.
New approach from National Grid
Coinciding with the launch, National Grid today published its new approach to building new transmission infrastructure, which among other things, it said would put greater emphasis on mitigating the visual impact of its new electricity lines.
"Connecting Britain’s new power stations to our homes and businesses will be one of the great infrastructure challenges of the next decade and beyond," National Grid’s executive director UK, Nick Winser said. "Through the use of new technology, pylon design, extensive consultation and undergrounding where appropriate, our new approach will ensure we consider very seriously the visual impact of new transmission lines."
The 'Pylon for the Future’ display at the V&A will run until October 5 when the winner of the competition will be chosen.
A prize fund of £10,000 will be shared amongst the winning candidates.
Like this story? Please subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter at the top of the page for more content like this.
Related content:
