A SCOTTISH sculptor has beaten off international competition to design a £6m millennium arch in Atlanta.

Sandy Stoddart, artist in residence at Paisley University, who designed a bust of Tony Benn that was unveiled last week, was approached above a shortlist of American artists for the commission because of his international renown.

Part of a residential and business development designed by Robert Adam Architects in London, it will be the flagship project of a movement promoting classical architecture, the American Urban Design Foundation.

Stoddart, 44, whose largest commission until now was a £350,000 frieze measuring 70ft in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, said the new work will be his biggest ever project.

“It is a real privilege to work on something where there are so many buttons to be pushed,” he said. “For us, the millennium was a fireworks display for one night, but for the Bible belt of America, it was a chance to start again from square one.

“The arch, which will be a third of the size of the Arc de Triomphe, will represent the four great epochs since the birth of Christ and what has been done with them.”

He said one portion will represent the Hellenistic age, the late Greek period in which Jesus Christ preached. A second will show the Middle Ages as a period of faith and age of chivalry. The third section will deal with the Renaissance, and the rebirth of the arts, linked to healing and goodness, as well as the establishment of civic compassion — founding hospitals, for example, set up to look after abandoned infants.

His final portion will represent the modern age of exploration and communication, where art is linked with cynicism and degradation.

He has already created his initial designs and will travel to Atlanta in January to continue work on the project, which is expected to take up to seven years. It is being built at Atlantic Station, a former steelworks now being renovated.

The $2 billion project, which is already the largest construction site in Georgia, is intended to house up to 30,000 workers, a hotel and thousands of homes.

Hugh Petter, the architect in charge of concept development and classical detail on the commission at Robert Adam Architects, said that Stoddart was the ideal choice.

“He has the academic rigour to make his designs fresh and innovative, and the intellect and artistic skills that this project requires to work on many levels.”

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