Twenty years ago Alasdair Houston and the local community came together as a result of the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis, with the vision to build an internationally important landmark at the border which would act as a cultural catalyst for regeneration.

A high profile site for the work was identified on the border between Scotland and England marching with both the A74(M) motorway and the River Sark.

Alasdair (1962-2021) proved an inspirational Chair and achieved a huge amount in pushing the project forward. A farmer and the owner of a tourism/hospitality business at Gretna Green, Alasdair combined business experience with a deep belief in the responsibility of businesses to impact positively on the wider community.

The project’s Creative Director was Charles Jencks (1939 - 2019) a resident of the region and renowned cultural theorist, landscape designer, architectural historian, and co-founder of the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. His best-selling books include The Language of Post-Modern Architecture, Adhocism, The Architecture of the Jumping Universe and The Architecture of Hope (on Maggie’s Centres). His recent landscape work is summarised in The Universe in the Landscape. Scotland is home to several of his most exciting landscapes including The Garden of Cosmic Speculation and Jupiter Artland, outside Edinburgh. The Crawick Multiverse was completed in 2015.

His vision is captured as “To see the world in a Grain of Sand, the poetic insight of William Blake, is to find relationships between the big and small, science and spirituality, the

universe and the landscape. This cosmic setting provides the narrative for my content-driven work, the writing and design. I explore metaphors that underlie both growing nature and the laws of nature, parallels that root us personally in the cosmos as firmly as a plant, even while our mind escapes this home.

Jencks was a driving creative force in setting the founding direction and form for the landmark.  He nurtured the creative environment for discussion and debate that allowed for a dynamic design to evolve. Jencks led the landform design and working closely with Balmond, a co authored vision and design emerged that celebrates innovation, discovery and identity.

Early investment by Dumfries and Galloway Council, Creative Scotland, Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway and the Nuclear Decommissioning Fund enabled design development and feasibility planning to be undertaken.

Over the years project has involved the local community, Scottish academics, cultural thinkers and in seminars and workshops which culminated in the appointment of the local resident and world-renowned landscape architect Charles Jencks as the project’s Creative Director.

In 2011 we announced The Great Unknown – a competition to design a significant landmark for Gretna.

Cecil Balmond’s ‘Star of Caledonia’ was the winning concept design which was developed in collaboration with Charles Jencks.

With support of art producer Jan Hogarth of Wide Open, and working with the Gretna community, the design evolved over multiple iterations responding to engagement through public exhibitions and events. The proposals were displayed at The Scottish Parliament.

The Jencks/Balmond design gained planning consent in 2013 and has since been granted extensions.

The Star will provide a confident and ambitious work of art and cultural intent exploring place, environment, energy, cultural and environmental identity. Scottish achievements in engineering, culture and science will be showcased and celebrated.

Over the years the vision of the project has been championed through the tenacity of Alasdair Houston, with the support of the Trust Directors, to ensure that the creative intent, scale and ambition of the Star remained undiluted.

In 2019 the project was included in the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal subject to match funding being secured.

In 2020 Community Windpower Ltd. recognised the vision and aspiration of the Trust to realise a unique and innovative international flagship project that promotes shared values of Scottish innovation, culture, science and renewable energy.

Community Windpower has offered substantial funding, subject to final technical design and viability, to partner the £1.5m being offered by Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal to enable the construction and reaslisation of the Star.

Emerging from Covid 19, another pandemic following Foot and Mouth 20 years ago, our ambition is to play a key role in supporting the economic, community and cultural regeneration of the region and Scotland.

South of Scotland Enterprise has provided grant funding in April 2021 to allow the Trust to employ Urban Foresight to develop a Business plan which is required to satisfy Borderlands funding requirements. This is a critical piece of work to help us plan both the construction and also the long term viability of the project.

It is planned that construction will start on site at the end of 2021/early 2022.