Government has submitted plans to transform the General Post Office into a celebration of the Island's 400th anniversary.

The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs is proposing two art installations at the Church Street building in commemoration of 1609-2009.

The designs, by agent s.h.y. Architecture, feature a 'postcard' display on the east facade to spell out '400', plus a 'postage stamp' installation on the north side of the building.

The '400' will consist of 1,000 6in x 9in bronze sheet postcards etched with Bermuda's official 400th birthday graphic and the opportunity for personal messages.

In a letter to the Planning Department, s.h.y. Architecture says: "The public will have the opportunity to purchase 1,000 sheet bronze postcards on which they may write a personal message, which will be etched."

The postcards will be inserted into the ceramic brick grid on the eastern side of the Post Office - to spell out '400'. The display will be backlit and at the end of 2009, those who bought the pieces will receive their mementoes when the installation is dismantled.

On the northern facade of the building, the 'postage stamp' artwork will consist of a permanent display of 12 7ft 10in x 4ft 7in ceramic-printed glass panels mounted on stainless steel pins, protected by laminated safety glass.

The panels will use a new printing technology developed by Israeli company Dip Tech, in which ceramic inks are digitally printed onto glass. The panels will feature a montage of those postage stamps commemorating the Island's 400th anniversary.