Glass Canopy 2005 Martin Donlin Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent In April 2001 the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC) commissioned urban design consultants RPS to undertake Phase II of the Ebbw Vale Town Centre Urban Design Framework for Lower Bethcar Street and develop a strategy to re-establish Ebbw Vale town centre as an important shopping destination within Ebbw Fawr. To ensure a high quality environment as a key to attracting people into the town centre, CBAT was engaged to consider artists’ interventions within the public realm and worked closely with the design team to develop and propose several projects integrated within the strategy. Martin Donlin, based in Brighton, was commissioned in April 2002 to work closely with the architect Chris Waterworth, to design the glass section of a canopy to stretch the length of the indoor market and a number of adjacent commercial premises on Lower Bethcar Street, a length of approximately 300m.  The indoor market, a key building within Lower Bethcar Street has undergone extensive improvements, restoring the original Victorian façade and creating small office units at ground floor level, while upgrading the residential flats above. The glass design was drawn from natural forms inspired by the local landscape.  The artist created a rhythmical composition of straight and curved floating forms, flowing over the length of the canopy.