January_1971 — Page 37

TIDEUNDL

Block XI

Block XII

Block IVb

Block IV

Tennis Courts Garages

Tower Block I

Railway

-London Museum

-Garages Beech Street

Block XIV-

LBlock

Block XV

Hostel

Commercial and Garages

Fann Street-

and-over' arrangement of maisonettes is used so that all living rooms face into the central landscaped area.

In terraces with an east-west axis 'through' flats extend the width of the block with lift access to pairs of flats on each floor; living rooms face south. In the crescent-shaped block at the centre of the scheme maisonettes and terrace houses have been incorporated under the podium, with a view into gardens and squares.

All flats are provided with built in kitchens and bathrooms, with forced ventilation; kitchens include high-level electric oven and grill, cooking rings, refrigerator, cupboards disposal unit which allows food wastes and small solid rubbish to be disposed of cleanly through a system of ducts and re- ceiving chambers.

Underfloor background heating controlled to maintain a constant level is provided and is included the rental. An entry-phone' system allows resi- dents to identify callers at the en- trance lobby and admit visitors by remote control; 24-hour porter super- vision is provided in the three tower blocks, and an internal communica- tions system including two-way pocket radios enables porters, the estate man- agement office and maintenance work- ers to keep in constant contact.

Car parking space is provided be- low the residential blocks; in many cases the tenant will be able to park immediately adjacent to the lift ser- ving his flat outside his own 'front door'.

Add

The arts centre

Within a few months the City of London Common Council will be re- commended to accept a tender for con- struction of the Barbican Arts Centre.

Far East BUILDER, January 1971 Page 37

The arts centre has been designed as the focal point of the development. The three main 'ground levels' of the schemes meet and overlap here, at what is not just an arts centre but the architectural centre of the site. The central landscaped area at exposed ground level is continued into the arts complex, across a lakeside terrace, to become the main concert hall, foyer and concourse level; the lower podium level of the South Barbican is the main pedestrian access while the upper podium level common to the buildings of the North Barbican forms a roof terrace level for most of the complex and the floor level of the art gallery, the sculpture court and the large glass- ed-in conservatory surrounding the main theatre fly tower.

Historic buildings

The concept and detailed design of the arts centre have been developed with specific concern for the needs of specific tenants the Royal Shakes- peare Company, the London Sym- phony Orchestra, the Guildhall School and the lending library and art gallery, rather than in a vacuum for hypothe- tical users. The theatre is designed to provide a close intimacy between au- dience and stage, the concert hall to provide the scale and the acoustics needed by the LSO, and so on throughout the centre.

The public parts of the complex will be an artistic and cultural centre for the whole London area as well as for the Barbican itself, and the access and amenities have been designed with this in mind; at the same time the arts centre will be part and parcel of the overall concept, not something simply set down in the midst of it.

Of the structures that stood on the

site before the Blitz only a few survi- ved in usable condition; of these, only the historic sixteenth century church of St Giles' Cripplegate, pre-dating the Great Fire, and the remaining portion of the Roman Wall have been retained.

St Giles', close to the centre of South Barbican, becomes once again a 'working' parish church and a focus of neighbourhood life, linked to the modern development by the new St Giles' Square with its brick paving and plinths overlooking lakeside willows and with the best-preserved of the an- cient gravestones incorporated into the fabric of the new square. The tradi- tional relationship of the Church and education is retained in the City of London School for Girls adjoining St Giles' Square and reflecting, in its ar- chitecture, something of the church's style and materials. The three-form-- entry senior school has accommoda- tion for approximately 500 girls, and the attached Preparatory Department, accommodated in a separate block, for 80-100; a gymnasium, underground swimming pool and sports grounds on the southern boundary of the Barbican site are linked to the compact senior block and the Preparatory Department by covered walkways.

Another traditional association of neighbourhood life is carried on in the siting of a pub on the square facing the church.

Structure

Close to the church is the remnant of an even older part of London's his- tory, the Roman Wall; redevelopment of the Barbican site has made it possi- ble not only to show the wall to the best advantage but to incorporate it as an organic part of the surroundings.

With few exceptions where condi-

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