The new illuminated kingfisher mural, which has transformed central Twickenham, is part of a major effort to make the heart of the area a destination for shoppers.

The kingfisher, which is set against a spectacular floral backdrop including a map scene and image of Twickenham bridge, has already become a selfie destination.

It has been painted on what was a blank white wall on the side of the Iceland store at the junction between King Street and Water Lane, which runs down to the riverside.

Graffiti artist puts finishes touches to the public work of art (Credit @DiscoverTwick)

The new mural stretches from ground level to the rooftop and includes a Welcome to King Street sign and the giant kingfisher, both made from aluminium, which are backlit with LED lights.

The scheme is the brainchild of developers Essential Living, who own the King Street parade from number 3 through to 33.

The company's development manager, Camilla Lesser, told Nub News, the mural is part of wider initiative to improve King Street.

Work in progress (Credit Joy Collective)

'We are currently investing a significant amount in placemaking across the parade. This includes the new mural using the kingfisher as the emblem for our section of the high street.

"The ambition behind the mural is to add interest to the parade and to mark King Street as its own destination - we believe that King Street well and truly deserves its own character within Twickenham!

"Retail high streets across the UK have been severely impacted over the past few years as a result of changing consumer habits and the effects of Covid.

"As long-term owners of our buildings, we believe that the right approach to revitalise our high streets is to invest in placemaking initiatives such as these."

Team of 5 artists worked on the mural (Credit Joy Collective)

Looking ahead, she said: "Next, we will be installing uniform and colour co-ordinated designed shopfronts across the entire retail parade, and we are also involved in planning with the council to install street furniture as an additional improvement."

The kingfisher design itself was the result of a collaboration with design and branding expert, Bobbie Galvin, and Align Architects. The design was chosen because 'it ties in nicely with the nearby riverside and the King Street name itself'.

The spectacular foliage was created and painted by Graffiti Life, which is a collective of some of the world's best creatives, project managers and professional graffiti artists. The company's artists are experts in murals and the collective was formed in 2020 with a focus on promoting public art.

Scaffolding was erected to make the mural possible (Credit Joy Collective)

Graffiti Life said the work was created by a group of artists called Joy Collective, who specialise in public art installations. They prefer to be known as a collective, but the five artists involved in this project revealed their first names as Gioele, Lucy, Andrew, Alistair and Mark.

A spokesperson for the group said: "We pride ourselves on making work that's location specific - work that both celebrates its surroundings, and is adopted by the public with pride, so it's great to hear how beloved this mural has become already."

The investment by Essential Living comes as the Council is involved in a long running and increasingly expensive effort to transform and revive the nearby Twickenham Riverside area with new public spaces, the creation of a car-free promenade, apartments, shops, a pub-restaurant and café.

The scheme is being fought by a number of local community groups and – as a result – there will be a public inquiry into a compulsory purchase order for a section of the site in June.

Artists transformed what was a blank wall (Credit Joy Collective)

The King Street parade lost its NatWest bank earlier this year, however the popular dog friendly café chain Megan's is planning to take over the building, which is undergoing an extensive transformation.

Twickenham Riverside councillor, Stephen O'Shea, described the mural as 'stunning', adding: "Twickenham just gets better every day."

Others have taken to social media to praise it as 'beautiful', 'amazing', 'spectacular' and 'a great improvement'.

The manager of the Twickenham Business Improvement District (BID), which represents local businesses under the brand Discover Twickenham, Amanda McLoughlin, welcomed the initiative.

She said: "It is a fantastic addition to the town centre and very much supports our ambition to create a vibrant and welcoming town centre for everyone that lives, works and visits the area."