Spray Paint Mural, Levenshulme, Manchester, 2017
Levenshulme Station Mural
In June 2017, Mark was invited by the Friends of Levenshulme Station community group and Northern Rail to paint a large-scale mural on the platform building at Levenshulme railway station. The brief he set himself was to design a work that could operate across multiple speeds and viewpoints, from a passing inter-city train to a pedestrian standing at the wall.
The Brief
Mark was invited by the Friends of Levenshulme Station community group and Northern Rail to design a mural for the platform building at Levenshulme railway station. The brief he set himself was to make a work that held up across very different conditions: read at speed from a passing inter-city train, held from a distance across Levenshulme Market and the car park below, and rewarding closer attention from pedestrians moving past the wall.
The result needed to be vibrant and high-contrast enough to register in a fraction of a second, while still working as a considered piece up close.
The Design
The design was worked out as a proposal first, composited onto a photograph of the actual building so the scale and placement could be checked against the site before any paint went on. Spelling the station’s name across the building’s brick piers turned an ordinary platform structure into a legible, landmark-scale sign.
Colour did most of the work: a bright pink ground, with the lettering picked out in blue, yellow and pink outline, chosen to read clearly against Manchester’s grey sky in most weather.
The Painting
The mural was painted directly onto the platform building from ladders, working pier by pier. The pink ground went on first, followed by the blocked-in letterforms, then the outline detail that gives each letter its layered, three-dimensional feel.
Working on an active station meant painting around passengers, trains and the building’s own awkward angles, brick piers, a fire escape door, a departure board, rather than on a single clean wall.
In Context
Seen from the platform, the mural sits alongside the ordinary furniture of a working station: departure boards, benches, railings, passengers waiting for a train. Rather than standing apart from that environment, the piece is built into it, spelling out the station’s own name back at the people using it.
From a distance, across the market or the car park, the same wall reads as a single bright landmark, long before any of the detail is visible.
Commission a Similar Project
I take on a small number of public and site-specific mural commissions each year, working directly with community groups, transport operators, councils and businesses who need a piece designed to work at scale and from a distance, primarily across Manchester, the Peak District and the wider North West.
If you are planning a wall, a building, or a public space that needs a landmark rather than a decoration, I would like to hear about it early, while the brief is still open.
Get in touch about a commission →
Questions
Who commissioned the Levenshulme Station Mural?
The Friends of Levenshulme Station community group and Northern Rail invited Mark to design and paint the mural.
Where exactly is the mural?
On the platform building at Levenshulme railway station in Manchester, spelling out the station’s name across its brick piers.
Why was the mural designed to be read at different speeds?
The site sits beside train tracks, a market and a car park, so the design needed to register instantly from a passing train while still rewarding closer attention from pedestrians.
Is the mural still there?
Yes. It remains in place at Levenshulme station.
How was the mural made?
It was spray-painted directly onto the platform building, working pier by pier from ladders, starting with a solid pink ground before adding the blocked-in letters and layered outline detail.
Can Moderate Studio design a mural for a public or transport site?
Yes. Moderate Studio takes on a small number of public and site-specific mural commissions each year, working with community groups, transport operators, councils and businesses.
From the Journal
Painted, and Passed Since
Dated entries around the Levenshulme Station mural, from designing and painting it to a wedding that went via the station.
Selected Work