January_1971 — Page 34

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In its final form the Barbican resi- dential development incorporates on its 35 acre (15.2 hectare) site 2,113 flats, maisonettes and terrace houses for up to 6,500 residents; a 200-room hostel for students and young City workers; new premises for the City of London School for Girls and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama; a threatre, an art gallery, a concert hall and a studio cinema to serve residents of Greater London and its surround- ings generally, making the City once more a focal point of the arts; a lend- ing library; shops, restaurants and pubs for residents, City workers and patrons of the Arts Centre; and a completely segregated system of elevated pedes- trian walkways and terraces, with motor roads, service access bays and parking for 2,500 private cars located out of sight below pedestrian level.

Housing is concentrated in three tower blocks of over 40 storeys, and in a series of multi-storey terrace blocks grouped round squares, courts and gardens; in spite of the residential den- sity of 230 persons per acre (570 per hectare) the concentration of housing leaves room for 23 acres (9.5 hectares) of open space for amenity use - 3.8 acres (1.5 hectares) per 1,000 inhabi-

tants more than double the area re- quired by the planning permission. Using the land twice

The generous provision of amenity open space in such a compact, de- velopment has only been made possi- ble by adopting a multi-level approach to land use. Apart from the 8 acres (3.25 hectares) of lake and planting at ground level almost the whole of the land has been 'used twice' trian area or building space over vehi- cle access and parking; as pedestrian ways or landscaped terraces over hous- ing and the arts centre; as arcades passing through or beneath buildings.

as pedes. as pedes-

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Some 12 acres (4.8 hectares) of new 'ground level' open space have been created by the elevated walkways and podium terraces which form the main pedestrian level throughout the site. The two podium levels the main level over the northern half of the site is 10 ft. (3 metres) higher than that over the southern half — surround and pass over the sunken landscaped areas at earth level, and penetrate the terrace blocks to provide a continuity throughout the site.

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Space below the podium levels is used for housing, garages and roads:

almost the whole of the Arts Centre — containing some 11 million cubic feet (300,000 cubic metres) of floor space

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will be below pedestrian level; the only parts of the centre which cannot be walked on are the two theatre fly towers, the art gallery and one restau- rant. Laid out on a single level the total of pedestrian space, landscaping, purely building ground area and roads and parking spaces would cover some 58 acres (23.5 ha).

In scale

An important consideration in any development such as the Barbican is the scale and character of landscaping. The design and planting of the ex- posed ground areas must be on a large scale so that the landscaping is not overwhelmed by the buildings; at the same time the creation of a new 'ground level' by means of the podium necessarily involves large areas of 'hard' landscaping paving, balus- trades, steps and the like - which demand equally careful treatment if the 'feel' of the space is to be truly urban without becoming stark and im- personal.

Most of the exposed ground in the Barbican has been laid out as lawn

Barbican

Site plan

in x x x x q

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XV

16

10

Golden Lane

15

13

19

Silk Street

Fore Street

XM

Wood Street

பா

London Wal

24

Moor

Far East BUILDER, January 1971

Moorgate