We were invited by the City of London Corporation to propose enhancements to the area surrounding St Paul’s Cathedral, a site of exceptional architectural and urban heritage and significance.

 

HISTORY & IDENTITY

Many of the public spaces surrounding the site have a distinct character and identity, and feel separate from the streets around. This is reinforced by being strongly defined by boundary conditions, which protect and enclose the spaces. Historically, the site has been a place of convergence and circulation.

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The proposal seeks to reinstate this central point as the focus for a new space, and to connect the desires lines of pedestrian movement through this new place. The layout of festival gardens was designed to incorporate the layout of the old city block, particularly the route of Old Change. The proposals also reinforce this urban memory by defining this “street” more strongly.  

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GATEWAYS & MAKING A DEFINED PLACE

Recalling the history of the City gateways, the proposal create new points of arrival and legible markers to give identity to the site, and also enhance the identity of Festival Gardens. Like St Paul’s churchyard, the proposal creates a more defined and enclosed space, to increase the tranquility of the existing amenity space.