Local Artist Mixes it up with Painting at Gatecrasher Apartments

7th September 2016

A Sheffield painter has paid homage to the former Gatecrasher nightclub with a mural that honours the sites iconic musical heritage.

Neil Antcliff, from Walkley, has produced a giant nightclub-themed painting, which depicts a female DJ, inside the brand new Gatecrasher Apartments. The specially commissioned artwork is located in the communal area within the £11million student complex, which is on the site of the famous former Gatecrasher nightclub at the corner of Arundel Street and Matilda Street. Neil, who works under the name Foundry, said: -I was approached to work on the piece and provided with some rough ideas for the mural. From there, I came up with a series of designs and the DJ was chosen to be the feature piece to reflect the history of the site. -I've painted the mural in negative colours so that's what the students see when they arrive. There is also vinyl on the windows so when the sun shines through the windows and hits the painting, it is reflected in its positive form on the wall. -I wanted to do something that was a little different while still capturing the essence of the former Gatecrasher nightclub. -It's good to see development in the area, particularly using some of the abandoned buildings that have been left unused for years. Sheffield is a big university city and you see a lot of different cultures coming here to study. I think it will have a positive influence on the students. The image is the second music-themed design to be unveiled at Gatecrasher Apartments after architects revealed the internal courtyard which has been landscaped into a record turntable as a reminder of the sites previous function as a popular nightclub. Neil now pursues art full-time and his previous work includes a set of paintings done using Sheffield's staple condiment Henderson's Relish. One of Neil's most recent projects was a large-scale painting of a robotic woman and saw him travelling to Kuala Lumpur to complete it. Neil also took a recent trip to SíDúBí Festival in Ireland where he worked on smaller pieces. Andrea Marsden, head of residential at West One, said: -Neil has done a fantastic job on the mural inside Gatecrasher Apartments. It was really important to us that we honoured the history of the site and Neil has captured that perfectly. Gatecrasher Apartments is a top quality home for more than 240 students, providing clusters of three, four and five beds, all en-suite. There are also 90 one-bed studios each with a kitchen featuring integrated full-size oven and appliances, breakfast bar, large fitted wardrobe, large armchair, 4ft bed and 40-inch Smart TV and includes up to 50GB broadband. Communal features at the £12 million apartments include a gym, cinema room, games room, mezzanine study area and a lounge. The complex will also have shops and offices at ground level, a 'green' environmentally-friendly roof and is part of the Community Heat and Power scheme that is linked to the Bernard Road incinerator. Gatecrasher Apartments is part of the West One accommodation portfolio that already embraces student flats in the award-winning Sellers Wheel, Huttons Buildings and Broomgrove Apartments, as well as the West One residential, leisure and commercial development in Fitzwilliam Street. Follow Neil on Instagram @foundry5. For more information on Gatecrasher Apartments, visit http://www.westonespace.com/  or call 0114 229 6823. Follow West One Accommodation on Twitter @westONEspace & Facebook by searching for 'West One Student Accommodation'.