Vattenfall has been working with the local community in Bristol to share their ideas of what a fossil-free future looks like, and tasked local artist RTiiiKA to bring this to life.
Once installed, the Bristol heat network operates quietly in the background, out of sight and often out of mind. As part of the Bristol City Leap partnership, we believe in making the benefits of sustainable energy visible, valued, and understood by communities.
That’s why, with the helping hand of the community, Vattenfall turned one of their site compounds into a colourful celebration of the magic behind the heat network.
In collaboration with talented local artist RTiiiKA and Bristol City Council’s Art and Culture team, Vattenfall and Bristol City Leap conducted three workshops in the Barton Hill area of East Bristol. These sessions aimed to inform people about the Bristol heat network, a project within the Bristol City Leap partnership.
Participants, who were aged between 11 years old and over 75 years old, were encouraged to share their vision of what a fossil-free future looks like, and what exactly this means to them, using a series of hands-on creative exercises.
Taking inspiration from the technology behind Vattenfall’s water-source heat pump at Castle Park Energy Centre, RTiiiKA reflected the community’s ideas on how we can generate heat using the harbour water, without the use of dragon fire or kettles!
The brilliant illustrations above were produced by the Wellspring Settlement art community group, Barton Hill Academy and City Academy, which have been reflected onto the hoarding artwork.
The co-design approach meant we worked together with the artist and community from start to finish – from meeting the team, to learning about the technology, sharing our collective why for removing fossil fuels, drawing the visuals and selecting the colours. The final design is a true celebration of this, delivering a bold, bright and creative illustration of the community’s understanding, their ideas and hopes for transforming their city’s energy system.
We spoke to RTiiiKA about the project, who captured her experience by saying: “I think it’s really important that we invest into our public space and make our cities beautiful and fun places to live. I hope that people that walk by are curious about it and that they think, oh, what’s this about? It might plant the seed for them to want to know more.”
Projects like this contribute to Vattenfall’s aim of building a foundation of community participation in Bristol as they construct the heat network. The team, with Bristol City Leap’s support, will continue to provide a range of opportunities for local groups to become part of the network’s fabric, and the output of this artwork serves as a great example of how the community can get involved.
To find out more about our social value commitments in Bristol, visit this webpage.
Vattenfall will continue to be at the site for another year or so, and then hand it back over to property developers, Galliard Homes, who will be transforming this space into new homes in the future.
