Welcome Arch: Dual Works

Co-commissioned by Pendle Festival of Culture and the National Festival of Making, the Welcome Arch acted as a place for gathering, welcoming people to each festival and connecting people and place.

Selected through an Open Call, designer-makers Dual Works hosted creative workshops focusing on meaningful conversations with intergenerational groups in Pendle and Blackburn before beginning their design.

The vibrant structure was informed by these workshops, aiming to reflect the sense of place and geography of our two Lancashire towns, drawing together what unites us.

The arch fulfilled a ceremonial function at the opening of Pendle Festival of Culture before moving to Blackburn for the National Festival of Making weekend, where visitors were able to sit and enjoy the changing colour reflections created as the sun came out.

Accompanied by workshops using offcuts from the making process, participants were able to take a piece of the festival home with them. 

Welcome Arch was longlisted for the RIBA Journal MacEwen Award 2025, a celebration of 30 projects which epitomise architecture for the common good, and is now used at a community hub in Nelson.

About Dual Works

Dual Works is a designer-maker studio based in Birmingham with experience and a track record in creating bespoke projects tailored to the needs of diverse communities of interest and place. As designer makers with broad creative, fabrication and materials knowledge, they bring practical skills and experience in project management, artistic endeavour and creative facilitation including residencies, exhibitions and events. Further to this they have a vast teaching experience to call upon, where they have worked with students across a wide range of 3D design and creative subjects.

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About Pendle Festival of Culture

Pendle Festival of Culture is an annual event for Pendle communities, who come together in solidarity and celebration of art and culture. Through the festival, communities gather in a spirit of shared identity to celebrate the diversity of Pendle. The Festival of Culture is a key, annual event supported by This is Nelson, the arts and culture strand of the Nelson Town Deal, delivered in partnership between In-Situ, Building Bridges Pendle, Super Slow Way and Pendle Council.

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It’s particularly important to us that this piece of work was a co-commission with Pendle Festival of Culture and Festival of Making and importantly, a collaborative project with local people from both towns involved from the beginning.

Paul Hartley, In-Situ, a This is Nelson partner organisation

Working with Dual Works, Pendle Festival of Culture and members of the community on this commission resulted in a collaborative, high quality and unifying piece of work. One that embodies the qualities of making we continuously aim to celebrate.

Elena Jackson, Festival of Making CIC

Photography by Emma Colbert-Mooring, Fiona Finchett, Hayley Salter and Robin Zahler.