SEE Monster
A new life for a North Sea oil rig
Weston-Super-Mare, United Kingdom, 2022
Courtesy of New Substance
About the project
‘It is at once a remarkable engineering achievement, a creative experiment and a striking educational tool.’ RoughGuides
Atelier One worked with creative studio New Substance to repurpose a 30-year-old decommissioned North Sea oil rig as part of the Unboxed Festival in 2022.
SEE Monster was a large-scale, accessible piece of public art, commissioned as part of a national festival celebrating creativity across the country.
The temporary installation featured a 10m tall waterfall, kinetic artworks, a cloud-making machine, a garden of plants and grasses suitable to the seaside climate and an amphitheatre with spectacular views of the sea.
The process
Atelier One’s role was to provide structural engineering support to New Substance in modifying the oil rig, so that their vision could become reality.
A 450-tonne rig was shipped to Weston-Super-Mare, where it made its first landing on the beach. A series of crawler trailers, known as self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs), drove the rig up the beach.
Finally, the rig was lifted into its new home, a specifically designed tower, using a 600-tonne crane.
Images courtesy of Neil O’Donoghue
The outcome
The project opens a conversation about how we can transform unused industrial structures and turn them into something new that everyone can enjoy.
Courtesy of Chris Matthews
Credits
Client: New Susbtance as part of the Unboxed Festival
Designer and project lead: New Substance
Lifting contractor: Mammoet
Press
Newsubstance creates 35-metre-tall See Monster from North Sea gas rig, dezeen