A decommissioned North Sea platform was finally brought ashore in Weston-super-Mare on Wednesday, ready to begin a new lease of life as the “SEE Monster” art installation.
The platform began its five-day journey by barge from the Netherlands last week, arriving off the coast of the seaside town on Tuesday.
It was finally brought ashore on Wednesday morning, where a Mammoet self-propelled mobile transporter (SPMT) was waiting to carry the platform from the sea to the beach, and finally onto a new set of foundations at the town’s waterfront.
A small crowd had gathered to watch the platform’s arrival, which was hailed by the organisers as “a truly spectacular moment.”
The “regenerated” topsides will now be installed at the Tropicana, the town’s former 1930s lido, as part of the nationwide ‘Unboxed: Creativity in the UK’ project.
Announced last October, ‘SEE Monster’ is one of 10 creative projects that will run from March to October 2022, informed by science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics, in what is described as a “once-in-a-lifetime celebration of creativity.”
Designers say that the public, free-to-access installation will “draw on Weston-super-Mare’s unique locality” and “shine a light on the resilience of our coast, creating opportunities and generating new possibilities for the life of this retired structure.”
Once complete, the platform will use renewable energy “in celebration of the Great British Weather and British eccentricity.”
A Garden Lab area will also showcase a range of new renewable technologies as part of an “overgrown garden.”
The project is led by Leeds-based creative studio NEWSUBSTANCE in collaboration with Dose of Society, REDHOUSE, Rocket Women, Empowering Women with Tech, Ivan Black kinetic sculptor and representatives from The British Antarctic Survey, and is supported by North Somerset Council.