To coincide with the celebration of 200 years of the Johnnie Walker Whisky brand, Hardscape were asked to produce a medallion-style artwork installation to feature their notorious ‘Striding Man’ at the entrances to each of their four main distilleries with the first to be installed at the unique new multi-million pound distillery and garden visitor attraction at Glenkinchie near Edinburgh.

The new Striding Man statue has been designed by Edinburgh artist Angela Jane Johnston. The iconic Striding Man is joined in his walk by Bruce the dog, a character from the history of Glenkinchie.

OUR JOURNEY

Produced at their IP Surfaces factory, Hardscape liaised with designers at EPH Studios to create a stunning 2.5m circular ‘medallion’ base using Italian Prima Porphyry at its centre and a sandblasted brass-inlayed map into the porphyry and waterjet-cut brass lettering and polished brass rings into the outer circular Kobra granite surrounds. Initially the specification was for a concrete base and a corten steel centre but after discussions and sampling of various products the natural stone option of Prima Porphyry was deemed to be the best choice particularly because of its rich warm colour and texture.

The red bricked building sits nestled in a deep green glen, surrounded by rolling fields of barley. In East Lothian, in an area known as ‘the garden of Scotland’, the seeds have finally been sown for a new future for Scotland’s whisky tourism industry with the opening of a new multi-million pound visitor attraction in October 2020.