An Age, An Instant
Rona Smith’s Public Art Installation at New Burlington Mews, London
“I wanted to create a sense of walking through history and kind of passing through time. And that’s when I got the idea to create the gates.”
A Monumental Vision Rooted in Memory and Place
From an early age, artist Rona Smith felt an instinctive pull toward creative expression. “We didn’t have a television,” she recalls. “So I used to spend a lot of time making things, drawing things, and painting. And I think that’s really where my interest in art began”. Her artistic voice, shaped by solitude, introspection, and a family dynamic that demanded quietness, has since matured into one that communicates boldly and monumentally through public sculpture.
One of her public commissions, An Age, An Instant, occupies a prominent site at New Burlington Mews just off Regent Street in central London. The piece draws on the rich history of the area. “It was a real kind of hub for watchmakers and clockmakers,” Rona explains. “And I just really wanted to reflect and draw attention to some of the craftsmanship that went into creating these beautiful antique timepieces”.
New Burlington Mews, London
Material and Meaning: Stone and Bronze
The visual language of An Age, An Instant speaks of time, both mechanically and poetically, and in material terms. The gates Rona conceived are designed to mirror the cyclical rhythm of time itself, engraved with cog-like patterns that continue into the paving when the gates are open. “When the gates open up, they are flush with the surface of the stone. And so you get the cog design continuing and you get that kind of rhythm as you walk up the mews”.
The material choice was crucial. Rona and the architectural team visited Portland to hand-select the stone: “We wanted to choose a stone which would allow us to create this kind of detailed engravings for the inlaid bronze, but would also have a kind of charm and interest and irregularity”.
The result is a perfect balance of heritage and innovation: Portland stone with varying degrees of shale and shell, chosen for its character, and inlaid bronze elements that elevate the surface design.
stoneCIRCLE’s Role: From Fabrication to Co-Creation
To bring this vision to life, stoneCIRCLE was entrusted with the technical execution. “Working with stoneCIRCLE, it was such a brilliant experience,” Rona notes. “They were able to collaborate with my metal fabricator, Benson Sedgwick, so that the water jet cut sections of bronze could be placed within the etched stone seamlessly, as if the whole piece was created or fabricated by the same contractor”.
Beyond aesthetic harmony, the sculpture had to function mechanically. “As well as being an artwork, it’s also a functioning part of the building,” Rona explains. She worked closely with engineers and designers to ensure that all hardware—motors, sensors, and locks—was discreetly integrated. “We were able to bury the drive unit… the mag locks are hidden behind the curve of the cogs… some of the sensors, we were able to hide them behind the design work”.
A Dialogue Across Time
An Age, An Instant is more than a public artwork; it is a visual and tactile conversation with the past. “In delving into some of these kinds of lesser-known stories and uncovered narratives, I hope to set up a conversation between the past and the present,” says Rona. “And I hope that that really kind of colours people’s experience”.
Through a fusion of concept, craftsmanship, and collaboration, this piece exemplifies how stoneCIRCLE helps artists realise their most ambitious visions — transforming natural stone into cultural statements that endure.
Explore Rona’s full story and the making of An Age, An Instant in our short film, part of the Stonework Chronicles series.
project details
artist: Rona Smith
architects: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris
stone contractor: stoneCIRCLE
metal fabricator: Benson Sedgwick Engineering
space+style™ motion picture and media production by marco joe fazio creatives
archive photos courtesy of Rona Smith
