The Barbican Podium

Reimaging the City of London’s largest public open space into a climate resilient, accessible-to -all hub for biodiversity that conserves the Barbican’s rich heritage.

‘The Barbican Podium: Life on the Woodland Edge’ will enhance the City of London’s largest public open space to be more welcoming for people and nature. The climate resilient design approach will also create a more accessible space for everyone and help to protect the Barbican’s historic fabric for generations to come.

As an icon of 20th century urban form and brutalist architecture, the Barbican Estate’s aging podium system is now in urgent need of repair. This is a unique and technically complex opportunity to rethink how we retrofit our historic buildings and public places to meet the needs of society and environment both for today and for future generations. Driven by the City of London’s Climate Action Strategy, Biodiversity Plan and conservation objectives a more climate resilient, accessible public green space will be created.

In the 1960s, The Barbican Estate’s Architect’s Chamberlin, Powell and Bon sought to: ‘create a monument to hope in architecture that was centred around the belief that the things we build can help us live better, more equal, and more vibrant lives’. This vision is as pertinent to society today as it was then and became central to the design ethos of our scheme. AtkinsRéalis has been working with the City of London to develop this vision and deliver proposals for the podium that will both repair the urban fabric of the podium but also to provide a more climate resilient design approach for the future of the Barbican.

The design proposals for the podium landscape on the northern side of the Grade II Barbican Estate will transform the 1.8 hectare site into a thriving place for people and nature. The design aims to greatly increase biodiversity and rainwater capture, improve legibility and accessibility for people and help to protect the unique 20th century character from the impacts of climate change.

Innovative design

Through community and stakeholder engagement and concept design development we set ourselves clear objectives to guide our work:

Help create a more climate-resilient urban landscape.
Maximise green amenity functionality.
Allow the repair of the podium.
Create a Safe and Accessible environment for all.
Conserve the essence of the Barbican’s heritage for future generations.
Create an attractive, immersive, and legible public realm with a unique character.
Create a maintainable and financially viable public space.

Following extensive consultation, a broad multi-discipline design team have developed design proposals for the podium which promotes nature as an artform; it balances a multi-layered habitat structure and artistic forms that reference the historic architecture adjacent with a healthy and playful public amenity space.

To achieve this, the design introduces:

An increase of the greening area by over 70%, with the inclusion of trees and a world-class horticultural strategy.
A net gain in biodiversity by over 240%.
The use of innovative microclimate modelling to inform a design that provides resilience to future urban heat risk and surface water flooding.
Integrated play, exercise and art trails.
Exemplary rain and storm water management.
Improved accessibility for all user groups.
The removal of a link building within the space to improve legibility, visual connection and provide safer and more direct routes across the estate.
Improved lighting and wayfinding across the podium.

The innovative design approaches resolve the existing issues of water leakages, and adapt the Barbican to meet the City of London’s Climate Action Strategy and Listed Building Management Guidelines.

"I am pleased to see that these important works to the Barbican Estate Podium will soon go ahead, particularly the innovative design approaches that resolve the existing issues of water leakages, and adapt the Barbican to meet the City of London’s Climate Action Strategy and Listed Building Management Guidelines. We want to make this much-loved public space more comfortable and accessible for everyone to enjoy." Shravan Joshi, Chairman of the City of London Corporation Planning & Transport Committee.

Neil Manthorpe, Associate Director - Landscape Architecture & Urban Design at AtkinsRéalis, said: "We are delighted to have won this award for the Barbican Podium, which is a great example of a climate resilient retrofit project in a complex urban environment.

"It is also testament to the benefits of working in an integrated multi-discipline collaboration with our City of London client team.

"The holistic design approach, driven by the City of London’s Climate Action Strategy, will transform this area which is the City of London’s largest public open space with a range of public realm improvements making it a more accessible place for all user groups.

"The design respects the grade II listed status of the Barbican Estate and celebrates its heritage, iconic brutalist architecture and unique urban setting that will be complemented by the inspired, climate resilient planting design."

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