London Wall Place – the Latest Layer of History

Make Architects has completed work on its London Wall Place project, a new commercial scheme offering the largest set of public gardens developed in the City of London since the post-war brutalist Barbican estate on behalf of Brookfield Properties and Oxford Properties. The scheme comprises two office buildings surrounded by extensive public realm including a series of public gardens and reimagined elevated pedestrian walkways to link the neighbouring Barbican with the City of London.

The project’s concept lies in referencing the deep history of the site, from the Romans through to post-war modernism. The scheme’s geometry is aligned with the historical urban grain created by the section of the original Roman city wall on site and its materials reference those used to build the wall. Both the wall and the medieval St Alphage Church tower on site – hidden from public view since the 1960s – have been beautifully restored and made a central part of the public realm, while the elevated walkways of the 1960s have been reimagined and reinstated. The architecture is designed to be a backdrop to these landmarks, not competing but simply becoming the setting.

Work started in 2013 on a plot previously occupied by numerous buildings including the 1960s built 20-storey high St Alphage House. Main contractor Multiplex demolishing all of the existing buildings, while protecting the historic structures, and then enlarging the site’s existing basement to create a two-level deep zone. A portion of the high-level pedestrian walkways, known as the Barbican and City Highwalks, originally crossed the site and were removed as part of the demolition programme.

 Materials provided by Make Architects (via v2com)
Photo: © Martina Ferrera

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