Creetown in Galloway suffered for many years from a lack of physical infrastructure after the A75 road bypassed it. The Adamson Square project, completed in 2007, built on Creetown’s heritage and environmental and cultural tourism potential by creating an innovative new heart for the town designed by the internationally renowned artist, Hideo Furuta.

Hideo Furuta, who died in 2007, was an artist of international standing, with many public commissions across the UK and in Japan. Creetown owed its growth to the business of granite extraction, and the local quarries were indeed what originally brought artist Hideo Furuta to the town. The local granite is intrinsic to the design of the square, and echoed in the solidity of the traditional architecture of the buildings that surround it. Hideo’s design melded themes of granite and metals, ferrythorn and estuary, stake nets and water.

The design for the new town square is a collaboration between artist, landscape architect and community and relates to the natural, cultural and built heritage of Creetown. Hideo Furuta and Nic Coombey developed workshops with the local school and discussion and exhibitions with the community. The new Adamson Square will accommodate modern uses within the grain of the historic setting. It is a brave and modern design for a small rural town with a strong sense of place.