Chatham Place's regeneration programme is delivering a quality, vibrant destination for local people, extending the high street to the west and helping realise Reading's aspirations to become a European city.

A nod to the past with a vive la difference, was the result of the installation of two unique, art works manufactured by Woodhouse, as part of the ongoing regeneration at Chatham Place in Reading.

Commissioned by construction company Muse Developments, in partnership with the artist Marion Coutts and the commissioning agency Artists in the City, the striking structures are 3.5m high and 1.2m in diameter, with three concealed steel posts inside the cylinders, to add stability

The design pays homage to the classic Collonnes Morris (Morris columns), the often elaborate advertising bollards developed in France in the mid-19th century, but as adapted by Woodhouse in a contemporary style, they are very simple in form and constructed from thoroughly modern materials.

The central band around the outside of the cylinders incorporates a digital collage of archive posters, flyers and representing Reading's cultural heritage. The signage is backlit, using vertical ranks of 12 fluorescent tubes. The interiors of the columns are accessible for maintenance - and the display can be modified or renewed, when required.

The Chatham Place project also features other carefully integrated products from the Geo range, including Geo Oval street lighting, bollards, seating, waste-bins and finger-post direction signage.

Chatham Place is a £250m mixed-use development scheme being developed by Muse, in partnership with Reading Borough Council, at the western end of Reading town centre. The first phase of an overall development of 1.1 million sq ft on 11 acres is now complete, comprising both private and affordable housing, a 590 space multi-storey car park and substantial public open spaces.