A SCULPTOR has produced a landmark piece which is to be installed outside one of Bradford's most prominent buildings.

The Baby of the North, the work of Craig Dyson, will provide a focal point at the refurbished Margaret McMillan Tower – formerly the Central Library.

"It's not quite on the scale of the Angel of the North but hopefully it will provide a landscape piece and talking point for the city," said Mr Dyson, 26, of Haworth.

"It will be interesting to see what the public response is – I'm looking forward to hearing what people think."

He began work on the project, which was initiated by Bradford Council, about a year ago.

A series of workshops was held to gather ideas from the public.

"It has been a huge community project involving people across the Bradford area coming up with suggestions so their voice could be heard in sculptural form," said Mr Dyson, whose studios are in Belle Isle Road at Haworth.

"We held about 20 public engagement workshops and there were hundreds of ideas and drawings to work through.

"It was a mammoth task.

"Essentially the desire was for a landmark sculpture that speaks for the people.

"The Baby of the North is a reflection of the ambition of youth – it's an exciting place to be at that age with no barriers. We can learn a lot from our younger selves."

Mr Dyson started work on the sculpture itself about six months ago.

When mounted on a plinth, it will stand 3.5 metres high and will be painted silver.

The piece includes hundreds of Victorian loom components, many of which originated in Haworth mills.

"The materials are an important part of the whole concept," said Mr Dyson.

"It reflects the area's rich historic textile heritage. It was an era of pioneering ideas and one that I have always been fascinated by."

He admits the project has been his biggest challenge to date.

"I have produced more intricate work but this has been the hardest technically," he added.

"I needed flowing and curved forms, but that's not easy to achieve when you're using rigid metal components with edges.

"I go through a rollercoaster of emotions when I'm working on pieces and I have been doing 16/17-hour days in recent weeks, but I'm pleased with how it looks.

"I'm interested to see how the public reacts now."

The sculpture is due to be unveiled at Margaret McMillan Tower on May 21 at 2pm.