A Great British Icon
ICON, a stunning sculpture formed from the nose of Concorde, was unveiled at Royal Ascot in June. Jonathan Kearney discussed the project with its celebrated designer Sebastian Conran
assembly to raise funds. T e nose was from arguably the most important Concorde airframe, the sixth airframe, which was used for the most comprehensive ground- test programme ever mounted for any civil aeroplane. T ese tests proved to engineers that the supersonic aircraft would be suitable for commercial use, and in 1976 Concorde embarked on its fi rst commercial fl ight from London to Bahrain. For a concept developed in the late 1950s, it was capable of fl ying more than twice the
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he story of ICON starts in 2006 when the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey, sold a Concorde nose and visor
speed of conventional aircraft, powering through the sound barrier. In 2007 Sebastian, a committed
Concorde enthusiast, became involved with a project to transform the nose into a beautiful work of art, following a chance meeting with the original purchaser. After years of work, involving a team of highly skilled craftsmen, an aerospace engineer and Sebastian’s trusted design team, what had started out as a restoration project eventually resulted in a sculpture boasting dramatic shapes and forms to be admired from every angle. Sebastian said: “With the help of a couple of colleagues, Chris Barlow and Tom Pearce,
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