DSDHA's long awaited underpass project in Castleford, West Yorkshire, has been unveiled in the week it was confirmed that Channel 4 will finally broadcast the television series on the town's regeneration next month. The scheme, beneath the unforgettably named Tickle Cock Bridge, has been designed in collaboration with artist Martin Richman to transform a neglected pedestrian path. "It's in-situ cast concrete, with rubber panelling," director Deborah Saunt said. "The rubber has been flocked so it's got a velvet-like finish, and the seating becomes the lining to the underpass. "It was one of our first projects in the public realm, and urban design is now a key part of what we do." Local residents campaigned for the underpass to keep its historic name after Wakefield Council tried to rename it Tittle Cott. Saunt added: "The materiality grew out of having old stories about how it was where young people went to hang out, a lovers' lane, shall we say. We didn't want to sanitise it." The TV programme on the wider Castleford project, presented by Kevin McCloud and due to be shown in four one-hour episodes, has been heralded as the first televised regeneration scheme in the UK, and was originally scheduled for 2004.
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