+

Liverpool John Moores graduates Chris Dove and Craig Mitchell have won a commission to design and build their project, ‘Stone Bench’ which will create new architectural conditions and with it a new public space on Cheapside, near St Paul’s Cathedral, Central London.

The pair founded their studio; [op]era in 2010, and take part in architectural competitions of vastly varying scale. “We have always been inspired by the playfulness of making, and working in 3D. As a studio we take inspiration from these experiments and qualities on a small scale, and apply them to architectural conditions.”

“We are really excited to have won this national competition. Designing ‘Stone Bench’ is something we are both extremely passionate about, and the idea to create an object that will form a new public gathering point in London is something we are incredibly proud of.”

“We also feel the chance to work with such an exciting material, Portland Stone, is something that we as young designers always aim to do, working on with quality building materials that can have a positive effect on the context in which the intervention will sit.”

Stone Bench will sit on an enlarged public highway on Cheapside, opposite St Paul’s Cathedral and Jean Nouvel’s One New Change, and will be constructed over summer 2012, being officially unveiled by the Lord Mayor of London in October.

For more information on [op]era’s work, and to follow the process of ‘Stone Bench’ from its conceptual stages through to construction:

http://operaarchitecture.tumblr.com/

http://www.facebook.com/operaeia