Special Projects

Alec and Fiona have designed and made many specialised projects. They have a long experience of collaborating with Architects, public institutions and individuals in working up and producing exciting solutions. Every commission is thoughtfully designed, hand drawn and made with attention to the individual requirements of the situation.

Highgate School

Alec and Fiona have a long partnership with Highgate school, London, and have created artworks and commemorative plaques throughout the school's buildings over the last 10 years.

Initially Alec and Fiona were asked to design and carve four stone gargoyle heads for the new Senior school building façade, and produce decorative metal screens for the windows and main entrance doors.

Fiona and Alec decided to use the school's original Elizabethan charter document as a basis for their concept, which they found while conducting research in the school archives.

Highgate Junior School North London traditional architectural welcome entrance sign hand carved in stone

Alec Peever lettercutting a traditional stone headstone

Their contemporary designs entwine ancient calligraphy with new letterforms to create a palimpsest. These designs were laser cut from steel sheets and permanently enclosed within the window glazing. The school children chose to name their new building 'The Charter Building' in response to the artwork.

When the school embarked on building a new junior school a few years later, Alec and Fiona were invited to create a carved title and a series of integral sculptures. Alec carved an inspirational quotation from the writings of Sir David Attenborough directly into the Portland stone foyer wall, surrounded by natural fossil-filled Roach stone and wall carvings. Utilising the Fibonacci principal as a theme, Fiona and Alec made further sculptures of unusual and wondrous creatures from the natural world. These are cast in bronze and carved into the stonework, laying a trail of discovery for visitors young and not-so-young!

These sculptures are to encourage generations of school children to not only wonder at the rich knowledge of the natural world, but to also ponder their responsibilities towards the future of Nature itself. The half-metre high main title lettering was carved in the artists' studio and brought to site for installation. Quotations from Albert Einstein were carved into the stone steps of the literary garden by Alec. Specially designed entrance gates and murals for the music department were designed by Fiona to complete the scheme. Fiona and Alec won the RIBA London award for their work at Highgate School.

Betjeman Millennium Park

Alec was chosen to design and make a series of ‘word sculptures’ to illustrate the poetry of former local Wantage resident, Sir John Betjeman, to be permanently displayed in a specially designated area of delicately managed woodland.

He worked with Chelsea flower show gold medalist Gabriella Pape, to introduce the planting of native tree and shrub species to increase biodiversity, creating an intriguing poetry trail within a natural sanctuary.

Hand made cast resin bronze plaque monument for Betjeman Millennium Park in Wantage Oxfordshire

Alec Peever with plaque at Betjeman Millennium Park in Wantage Oxfordshire

The Betjeman Millennium Park is is a semi-wild woodland, located in the heart of Wantage, adjacent to the Letcombe Brook. It is a haven of tranquillity for both wildlife and people. With its native woodland trees, shrubs, plants and bulbs, the Park provides a unique habitat for birds, animals and insects. It is open to the public every day of the year.

Betjeman Millennium Park Website

The Bodleian Library, Oxford

Oxford's famous Bodleian Library was in need of replacement gargoyle carvings. The original stonework had weathered away beyond recognition, so Fiona and Alec were commissioned to design and carve nine new stone gargoyles. Ideas for the pieces were based on important literary characters and local themes.

After approval of their designs by Oxford University, Fiona and Alec began by modelling each of the gargoyles using clay, which would be used as a reference for carving into stone.

Hand carved lion gargoyle sculpture at Bodleian Library Oxford University of Oxford

Every new gargoyle was carefully designed to fit the specifications of the historic decorative masonry. They sourced large blocks of limestone to match the library's existing architecture.

Fiona and Alec hand carved the gargoyles in their studio, using traditional masonry skills to create nine contemporary grotesque heads depicting characterful representations, from 'three men in a boat' to Charles Darwin's dodo. Their bold designs were deeply carved to be clearly visible from the Bodleian Library's quadrangle some 40 feet below.

Oxford schoolchildren were involved in the project and were invited for a day in the artists' studio to experience clay modelling and carving stone with Alec and Fiona. The sculptors and their making process were featured on the BBC and covered by local newspapers. The gargoyles were then installed to the original architecture of the building and unveiled by the author Philip Pullman. For this project, Fiona and Alec were winners of The Oxford Preservation Trust Award.

Bodelian Library Gargoyle competition winners

Hand carved dodo gargoyle sculpture at Bodleian Library Oxford University of Oxford

FIONA & ALEC PEEVER

LETTERING AND SCULPTURE

Special Projects

Highgate School

Betjeman Millennium Park

The Bodleian Library, Oxford