This month marks the 20th anniversary since one of Manchester’s most controversial landmarks in recent times was officially unveiled. Dubbed one of Manchester’s most questionable creations, the city’s now lost B of the Bang sculpture is fondly remembered by many.
Despite costing £1.72m, large spikes fell off the sculpture while it was still standing, yet many queried why it could never be saved. Over the years, Manchester Evening News readers have spoken of their love of the landmark.
Comments such as “Great”, “Groundbreaking”, “Brilliant”, “Beautiful”, “Wish they could bring it back”, and “awesome…shame it was scrapped” have been among the tributes paid by readers. However, the tale of the B of the Bang is infamous.
Created to mark the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the B of The Bang stood as a 56-metre-high beacon of 180 steel spikes; at one point, it was the UK’s tallest sculpture. Situated beside the Etihad Stadium and symbolising a bold new era for our rejuvenating city, the project faced challenges from its inception.
Workers begin to erect the ‘B of the Bang’ sculpture outside the City of Manchester Stadium
It was plagued by delays, and then, just six weeks before its scheduled unveiling in 2005, one of its lethal-looking spikes fell off. Months later, a second spike was discovered hanging loose. The sculpture was fixed and officially unveiled by former Olympian Linford Christie on January 12, 2005.
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Yet further spikes had to be removed. By 2009, the sculpture had been dismantled, and the designer, Thomas Heatherwick, had forked out £1.7m to the council in an out-of-court settlement, the Manchester Evening News previously reported
British sprinter Linford Christie stands in front of the “B of the Bang”, the UK’s largest sculpture outside the City of Manchester Stadium
Heatherwick was asked to create the sculpture in his Sheffield studio in 2003 after winning a design competition. The brief was to embody the ‘explosion of passion and energy’ of the games, inspired by sprinter Linford Christie’s words that he didn’t start his races at the bang of the starting pistol but at the B of the Bang.
Heatherwick’s challenge was to create a landmark that would sit alongside working-class housing, industrial buildings, vacant brownfield, and a large Asda and catch the eye of passing motorists and match-day crowds.
The ill-fated B of the Bang sculpture
“The centre of our structure was an exceedingly complex node, where 180 tubes, of all different sizes, came together with an irregular geometry”, is how Thomas Heatherwick explained the process.
“The construction of this core became an extraordinary work of craftsmanship”, he continued. “The welding was built up in stages, until the core eventually contained 11 tonnes of welding material alone.”
It all sounded incredibly impressive. So why did the spikes fall off?
Structural issues plagued the B of the Bang
(Image: MEN)
Heatherwick himself has remained silent on this. Previously, he had said that the out-of-court settlement terms prevented him from going into too much detail.
The M.E.N has previously contacted Heatherwick, but no comment was made on the sculpture’s ill-fated ending. The studio’s website still showcases the B of the Bang sculpture. Still, it only adds: “The studio was devastated when the project developed a technical problem and was taken down in 2009, four years after its completion, by Manchester Council.”
At the time, the council’s city centre spokesman, Pat Karney, didn’t mince his words. “I was really sad that the artist, a very serious artist, couldn’t pull the engineering off”, he stated.
B of the Bang being put into place, with its designer Thomas Heatherwick
(Image: MEN)
“I loved every bit of it. It really excited people. I used to stare at it. It was absolutely fantastic. People came from all over to see it.
“When we heard about the problems with it, a minority of people jumped on the bandwagon and wanted to slag it off.
“It’s art. It’s experimental. It was a creative and imaginative way to capture the games. It captured a moment in time in Manchester’s history. It could have been a major tourist attraction.
“It was a shame it didn’t work out. Most people at the time really loved it. But bits of it started falling off, it was close to the road. We couldn’t take any risks with it”.
So why couldn’t the sculpture be repaired?
Initial testing of the spikes identified weld defects with the sculpture, which triggered cracking as it vibrated in every breeze blowing through Beswick, Clayton, Ancoats and Bradford.
Weights were fitted to the tips to stop the spikes from vibrating violently, but the problems persisted; the sculpture’s spikes, despite having undergone wind testing, just weren’t strong enough.
Heavier steel was suggested as a fix, but this would have meant smaller spikes, which a 2009 council report deemed ‘unacceptable on aesthetic grounds’ – and it would have added £3.5m to the cost. The artist’s alternative was to swap the steel spikes for carbon/glass fibre composite ones, designed to reduce wind vibration, at a potential cost of up to £3m.
The B of the Bang being dismantled
The council’s lawsuit against Thomas Heatherwick Studios resulted in a £1.7m settlement in 2008, with around £700k covering spike removals and legal fees. Despite the dispute, the council and Heatherwick remained hopeful of collaborating on a lasting solution for the sculpture.
However, financial constraints following the economic downturn were highlighted in the 2009 ‘Report on B of the Bang to the Executive’: “Any remedial scheme is likely to require significant additional funds, and at this time, no such funding is available…particularly having regard to the current financial climate.”
The idea was initially proposed to leave the sculpture in place, under regular monitoring, with any potentially unsafe elements removed. However, concerns were raised that it would become a ‘symbol of decline’, and it was believed “that the condition of the retained part of the sculpture would inevitably lead to increased calls on the council to contribute the further funds necessary.”
The B of the Bang was designed to look like an exploding firework
It was proposed that the sculpture be dismantled and the core and legs stored for future use. As it turned out, the core was melted down for scrap metal – raising £17,000 for the city’s taxpayers – while the spikes were understood to remain in storage at a secret location, awaiting some future resurrection.
Despite its problems, the sculpture still had high-profile admirers. In January 2009, artist Antony Gormley spoke out in support of it.
The creator of the Angel of the North sculpture said: “It is a great tribute to Manchester that this ground-breaking work was commissioned. To allow it to disappear would be a loss not just of an inspirational artwork but also of the council’s nerve.”
B of The Bang sculpture outside the Etihad
Despite this, the B of the Bang has never returned—and nor likely will it.
When the M.E.N contacted Manchester Council about the possibility, a spokesperson said: “B of the Bang was dismantled in 2009, and we can confirm that there is no prospect of the sculpture returning to the city.”
The council added that neither it nor Manchester council taxpayers were left out of pocket as a result of the sculpture’s structural issues. The council was also unable to give any information on the whereabouts of the offending spikes, which had reportedly been stored away since the B of the Bang was dismantled.