FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New 100-per-cent recycled mile markers revealed
Winning design by young architects comes to life
Back in 2019, London Marathon Events launched a competition for young
architects to design new mile markers for the iconic London Marathon
course. Fast forward three years and the winning design - delayed by the
Covid-19 pandemic - has finally been brought to life and will feature at
every mile of this year's TCS London Marathon course.
The winning design was submitted by young architects Chantal Banker, Davina
Lyn, Akhis Rashid and Haider Bokhari, who were supported throughout the
project by Blueprint for All - a charity that helps provide young people
with knowledge, skills and opportunities to build their career aspirations.
A replica mile marker has been created for this year's TCS London Marathon
Running Show to showcase the hard work of all those involved in the project
ahead of the mile markers' first official 'outing' at the 2022 TCS London
Marathon on Sunday.
Banker and Lyn were at the TCS London Marathon Running Show on its opening
day to celebrate their winning design becoming a reality and catch up with
the organisations they collaborated with to make it happen. From mentor
architects at Blueprint for All to organisations like Scaled - which
sourced the raw materials and constructed the markers - and Keep Britain
Tidy, everyone involved believed passionately in the project and is
thrilled to see the finished product come to life.
Seeing the project come to life
"It's bittersweet to see the mile markers in the 'flesh' because it feels
like the end of an amazing journey," said Banker. "There were a lot of
difficulties along the way, but the design is very close to our original
concept, so we're really proud of that.
"It was a long journey, but a really good one. It was a brilliant project
to be involved in. I'm sure I'll feel emotional when I see the mile markers
on the London Marathon course on Sunday. Not a lot of students have the
opportunity to collaborate with a big client like London Marathon Events
and build something really meaningful."
Lyn agreed, saying: "It's been a really interesting journey. We started
with the idea of runners, and running together, then we applied that idea
to nature and came up with the bees and the beehive idea, which led us to
the hexagon shapes we've incorporated in the design.
"Sustainability was really important to us from the start, which is where
the 3D printing came into the project. It's the first project of its kind
so we're really proud of that."
Created from four tonnes of plastic waste
The mile markers have been constructed by Scaled using a variety of raw
materials, including waste materials from London Marathon Events and four
tonnes of plastic waste collected from beaches in Dorset, Devon and
Cornwall by Keep Britain Tidy volunteers.
"We needed to find a source for the recycled material," explained David
Speight, co-founder of Scaled. "So we used a combination of recycled
plastic and plastic boards - 7.5 tonnes came from old London Marathon
signage and T-shirts, and about four tonnes from Keep Britain Tidy's ocean
recovery team collecting plastic from beaches.
"Scaled is an engineering company with lots of large-format 3D printing
machines, which we used to create parts of the structures, while other
parts were created using old signage from events, which is great for the
environment as this waste hasn't had to be burned or go to landfill. We
hope the mile markers will last at least 10 years."
Positive impact on the environment
The positive impact on the environment doesn't end there though. Projects
like the new London Marathon mile markers offer communities the opportunity
to make a real impact on the world around us and go far beyond the finished
product itself.
For the volunteers who worked with Keep Britain Tidy to collect the waste,
the project not only offered the chance to help clean up Britain's beaches
but to contribute a more sustainable London Marathon.
"We worked with so many volunteers and partners to collect all the
plastic," said Andrea Crump, Chief Operating Officer at Keep Britain Tidy.
"Four tonnes is a lot of plastic to collect and requires a lot of beach
cleaning, but being part of the mile marker project and working
collaboratively to bring it together shows you can help protect your
environment while being part of something much bigger, something really
inspirational.
"The mile markers will be used for years to come, so to know the hard work
that went into the designs and all the volunteers who contributed and
brought this to life is really amazing."
Keeping the design idea alive
Three years after the competition to design the mile markers was launched,
everyone involved is looking forward to seeing the structures lining the
TCS London Marathon route on Sunday. There's no doubt the original goal of
the competition has been achieved, according to Magnus Menzefricke-Koitz,
architect mentor from Blueprint for All and one of the judges.
"The premise of the competition was to give young people the opportunity to
find out what it means to be an architect," he said.
"They needed to put a design together for the competition, but they also
needed to interpret a client brief - a very complex one for the mile marker
- come up with a design proposal, present the design and win the pitch -
all before the work on the mile markers actually started."
Going through it together
"It's a great project because it gave the students the opportunity to see
something they designed become a 3D object. We had Covid in between the
design starting and seeing it come to fruition, so it was challenging to
keep everyone engaged but it was great that everyone involved was very
committed and excited. Davina and Chantal kept everything alive from a
design point of view.
"The design they presented is not 100 per cent what we see here, it has
evolved, and we've all learnt as part of that evolution as we went through
it together."
'Going through it together' is sure to resonate with the participants
taking part on Sunday, who will be able to tick off the amazing new mile
markers as they make their marathon journey to the world-famous Finish Line
on The Mall.
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