Bradford BID’s five-year campaign to smarten up the city centre has taken an “in-spiring” step forward.

Bradford In-spires is the title of a new artwork, featuring towers and spires from some of the city’s landmark buildings, which the BID has instigated and funded to improve one of the approaches to the Interchange bus and rail stations.

The BID commissioned the mural, by local artist Sven Shaw, to provide a more uplifting vista for visitors using the walkway which runs alongside the Interchange in Bridge Street.

If the first thing people see are some derelict walls then it’s downhill from there. A good first impression is very important, and they’ll see the city’s highlights and something that’s bright and happy! It’ll give visitors and commuters a good start to their day" - Artist Sven Shaw

The completed work has now been marked with the installation of a plaque, thanking Sven for his work along with Bradford Community RePaint, who gather left-over paint and provide it to those who couldn’t normally afford to buy it, for providing the materials for the multi-coloured backdrop panels.

BID manager Jonny Noble said: “It has been a fabulous community effort. We asked Sven to get involved because of his previous work in Bradford subways and in Leeds and he has done a brilliant job of brightening up this key walkway while giving visitors a taste of some of the amazing buildings Bradford has to offer.”

BID chairman Ian Ward added: “We’ve been planning this for some time as part of our five-year plan to clean the city’s key footfall areas and provide a better first impression for residents and visitors alike.

“We wanted to press ahead and get it finished to bring a little bit of cheer and colour in these challenging times and Sven has given this previously grim and grubby area a real lift.”

The buildings featured are the former Penny Bank, City Hall, the Wool Exchange, the Bradford College Old Building, Lister’s Mill, the Alhambra, Bradford (Odeon) Live, Eastbrook Hall, the Bradford Gurdwara, Bradford Cathedral and Bradford Central Mosque.

Mr Shaw said: “It’s important to do this as where we are standing is the introduction to the city.

“If the first thing people see are some derelict walls then it’s downhill from there. A good first impression is very important, and they’ll see the city’s highlights and something that’s bright and happy! It’ll give visitors and commuters a good start to their day.”

As well as murals, Mr Shaw, who is a freelance artist, works in print, doing illustration work and pen-and-ink designs.

“A lot of my work is locally themed and about Bradford and its architecture,” he said. “I’ve also done a series of Leeds, Saltaire and Ilkley images. One of my favourite things to depict is beautiful architecture!”

He hopes to able to extend the mural further around the station at some stage in the future.

Meanwhile, he will be following his work outside Bradford Interchange with more designs including a landscape invoking northern phrases and sayings, such as “I’ll go t’foot of our stairs,” with the design offering a Yorkshire twist based on Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Netherlandish Proverbs.