The Smethwick Beacon concept uses the history of Chance's Glass and their manufacture of glass lens for over 2400 lighthouse as the starting point for the design. Three columns arranged in a circle will greet visitors as they enter the campus courtyard.

The tallest column ( fig 3. 4m tall and 300mm dia) is a gabian structure in stainless steel filled with glass cuttle collected from the site during the earthworks. The cuttle will be lit from within so at night the whole column will twinkle and glow as if the glass is molten. The widest column ( fig 2. 3m tall and 800mm dia) will be manufactured in corten steel with raised lettered quotations running around its circumference and the third column (fig 1. 3.5m tall and 500mm dia) will be in mild powder coated steel with laser cut designs produced by pupils of tool outlines and repeating patterns. All the columns have a stainless steel shroud reminiscent of lighthouses, factory chimneys and minarets and will emit beams of light.