The Archways Installation has been created for the In Focus Festival by T-Level students from Burnley College: Amelia Ahktar, Alexi Cardwell, Haley Consolacion, and Malaika Mahmood. They have been supported by Nixie Edwards from T-Level Employer Architectural Practice, HAD (Standish Street, Burnley).
The installation is located in Towneley Park, next to the play area, and will be on display for the duration of the festival, from 14th to 27th July.
The students took inspiration from the festival’s age range, representing key stages in a young person’s life – from birth to age 25.
ARCH 1: ENTRY
This is the entry to the other arches, symbolising birth and the first stage of life.
ARCH 2: NURSERY
This arch represents the nursey stage, which is symbolised by the soft fabric and textures, this
shows that as a baby/toddler you are swaddled in care.
ARCH 3: PRIMARY
This arch is the showcasing of ideas and beliefs that you hold as a child as well as the childlike
wonder that we hold at this stage, presented by different drawings from primary school children in
Burnley: St Peter’s Primary School, Casterton Primary School, and St John’s Primary School.
ARCH 4: SECONDARY
This arch symbolises the growth of becoming someone else through the representation of
recycled materials which are also recycled for another purpose (secondary recycling). It links to
Townley Park going plastic free and the reinvention of young people at this stage of life.
ARCH 5: COLLEGE
This arch is the showcasing of work from the T-Level students who are in college and their work
that they have contributed into this project showcasing the design process.
ARCH 6: UNIVERSITY
This arch is when you go off to university and leave Burnley behind which is represented through
the cutting of ties and untying knots from everything you have ever known.
ARCH 7: COMING HOME
This arch represents coming back to Burnley as an adult after university and the reflection of
becoming an adult and coming back to your roots.
Full listings for the In Focus Festival can be found here.