Mosaics

This is where I was all day today, the "Research Beehive", within the Old Library building at Newcastle University. I have often looked up at this semi-circular extension and wondered about the origins of the 3 tiled figures decorating it.
Today, I noticed an information box inside the building giving details of the artist, Dorothy Annan (1908-1983). Annan was an artist since the 1940s, when she had an art exhibition inside a London air raid shelter during WWII. She is most famous for her tile murals, however many have been destroyed in recent years including her largest work, called the The Expanding Universe, which was at The Bank of England.
In 1958, when this extension to the university was built, Annan was commissioned to produce these 3 marble mosaics for £1,507. The figures represent space travel, mining and architecture. I find these mosaics really enhance the building and think its a shame the far left figure is obscured by a glass fire escape. However I may feel differently if a fire was to break out! Newcastle University buildings have so many interesting details that I keep discovering (and blipping!)