The wings have been raised into place and new images have been released of the refurbished Angel Central.
The 12-tonne, 15m angel wing sculpture was lifted by 3.5m as part of the £16m project, which is due to be completed by the autumn.
The sculpture, designed Wolfgang Buttress in 2003, was incorporated into the new-look centre in 2018 after a “Save Our Wings” campaign, launched by 10-year-old Olivia Gordon.
It will sit atop a new footbridge and al fresco dining area, having been set in place by a team from RED Construction.
Ciara Daffy, asset manager at CBRE Global Investors, said: “Our investment in the redevelopment of Angel Central has been a long-term plan for the destination. We wanted to provide the local community with a reimagined space and enhanced offer that includes more restaurants, outdoor seating and leisure – all building on the existing strong mix within the scheme such as O2 Academy, Vue Cinema and Frame.”
Graham Sturge, managing director of Farringdon-based RED Construction, said: “The raising of the wings was one of the key milestones for this extensive refurbishment project at Angel Central. Our expert team on site worked together, utilising their years of experience and skill, to safely manoeuvre this iconic sculpture to its newly raised position. We had to work within a limited space but the innovative technique we used ensured we delivered this within our short time frame of only 5 days – this is an intricate phase of the project successfully completed.”
In 2018 Olivia Gordon organised a 2,214-signature petition and addressed Islington’s planning committee.
“My petition has shown this is not what Islington residents want, as everyone I spoke to loved the wings and sees them as a public landmark,” said Olivia in an impassioned speech to the chamber.
“You are the last hope of the people to save the wings. Please can you the planning committee reject this proposal and listen to the people of Islington?”
The committee voted to defer a decision on the application and new plans were drawn up to incorporate the angel wings.
On June 15, Angel Central reopened most of its retail stores in line with social distancing guidance.
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