London Wall West

An urban landscape layered in space and time

London Wall West is a mixed-use development at a prominent location in the City of London adjacent to the Barbican and aligned by a fragment of the historic Roman Wall. The public realm for London Wall West creates a welcome relieve in the buzz of the City of London. It combines both active uses for gathering and small-scale events as well as intimate spaces for relaxation surrounded by nature. The landscape connects the various levels such as below street, on street and above street and extends across the facades and onto the roofs. It integrates architecture from various eras such as the Roman London Wall, the Elizabethan inspired Iron Mongers Hall and the new 21st century architecture opening-up vistas to the Barbican beyond. Instead of one formal space, the scheme creates a network of spaces along pedestrian routes into and across the scheme. The combination of steps, ramps and skywalks create a theatrical space creating numerous vantage points with numerous perspectives. This is a place both to see and to be seen. The proposals will reconcile the site’s complexities and contradictions: its local and global influences, its urban and natural qualities, its formal and informal programs, its resident and transient populations, and its active and passive uses. A key objective is to increase biodiversity and create various habitats for birds and insects, as well as for the enjoyment for people to experience the seasons throughout the year. Our proposition is based upon a restorative design strategy to transform the site into a living system which includes water management and treatment, habitat creation and air purification. The proposals within the wider urban context of London Wall West will become a bio-diversity catalyst and provide a significant ecological stepping-stone between London’s pocket parks and the bucolic landscape of the Barbican. We envisage this garden to become a catalyst for a larger strategic landscape project stretching alongside the London Wall across the City of London.