š§¢Ā Derby ready for another major redevelopment
The announcement of a Ā£24m loan has fired the starting gun on Friar Gate Goods Yard scheme in Derby. The latest in a very long list of past and future regeneration in and around the city centre, the loan will allow Wavensmere Homes to start work on the Ā£75 million redevelopment of the site. This nationally significant mixed-use project will reanimate two landmark Grade II listed buildings into commercial space, alongside 276 new build homes, a health and fitness space and a restaurant/cafĆ©. Wavensmere recently completed the regeneration of the Nightingale Quarter in a city which next year will see the opening of a major new live performance venue, alongside a new-look Market Hall.
š§¢Ā This weekās āTop Pickā @WeightmanPR: Sandham Memorial Chapel
Sandham Memorial Chapel in Burghclere, Hampshire, is home to arguably the most important series of paintings by British artist, Stanley Spencer, who wanted to express his military experience during 'The Great War' in paint. The 19 oil paintings that cover three walls of the chapel took six years to complete and are considered by many to be the artistās finest achievement. With the chapel built to honour the 'forgotten dead' of the First World War, who werenāt remembered on official memorials, the series of artwork was inspired by Spencerās own wartime experiences as a medical orderly at the Beaufort Hospital in Bristol and both orderly and soldier on the Salonika front. Named as āBritainās Sistine Chapelā by some, it was inspired by inspired by the Arena Chapel, in Padua, which was frescoed by Giotto in the 14th century.
š§¢Ā Celebrate Tomb Raider Day in Laura Croftās hometown
Derby, the ābirthplaceā of Laura Croft, is set to host its fourth annual one-day fan event in the city on Saturday 12 October. 2024 is a big year for Lara Croft with new games, anniversaries and a new anime. With guest interviews, panels, autograph signings and photo opportunities. #TR28 is being held at Derby QUAD with a standard entry ticket priced at Ā£41. Development of the first Tomb Raider title was begun back in 1994 by Derby-based Core Design, and it was released two years later, sparking a long-lasting phenomenon worth billions of pounds.
š§¢ Designing Delftware: AI does it with tile
Home, for centuries, of the finest ceramics in Britain āThe Potteriesā of Stoke-on-Trent has stepped out of the past and into the future with AI. Not Quite Past trains AI to make ābeautiful thingsā and their first project explores classic Dutch Defltware tiles. The tiles are decorated entirely by skilled craftspeople in the UK, in Stoke-on-Trent. The Not Quite Past London start-up company is proud to be part of that tradition, while bringing AI's spin on it.