Borough High Street Project Report

Borough High Street Project

BOROUGH HIGH STREET PROJECT FINAL REPORT Borough High Street Project University of Westminster Build-Up Borough High Street Team

University of Westminster Build-Up Borough High Street Team

CONTENTS

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Preface

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Introduction

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Context

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The Forgotten Alley Ways of Borough High Street

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St George the Martyr - Recreating a Square

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Reference Projects

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Works Affecting Borough High Street Timeline for Proposed Completion

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The Team

PREFACE We initiated Build-Up at the University of Westminster for two very good reasons. First and most obviously to support built environment professionals during the recession. Second, to begin to address the skills shortages in the built environment, particularly in the area of urban regeneration and low carbon solutions. All professions are notoriously defensive about their boundaries, and built environment professionals are no different in drawing lines between which bits of knowledge and expertise they own. The problem is that that the built environment itself, in all its complexity, does not lend itself to being divided up into simple chunks of expertise. What is needed is a new type of urban professional, who is alert enough to cross professional boundaries and join up the bits.

The ambition for the project strand of Build-Up was that we would begin to initiate such thinking by assembling groups of diverse professionals, each with no particular axe to grind, and each willing to learn from each other. Of course multidisciplinary teams are often assembled to deal with urban complexities, but it is usually the case the tasks are assigned according to professional skills. In Build-Up projects this division is neither necessary nor relevant. The evidence from this report is that this small experiment in true interdisciplinary working has been very successful, and it acts as marker of the wider ambition of Build-Up. Professor Jeremy Till Dean of Architecture and the Built Environment

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Introduction Within the University of Westminster Build-Up Program a team of graduates and professionals with a variety of experience in architecture and urban design has been put together to look at the current structure of Borough High Street and to develop a project for improving the street. The Business Improvement District (BID) Better Bankside (BB) has worked with the University of Westminster to commission this project.

The project is intended to run over the course of nine weeks during which the Borough High Street Team (BHST) will work closely with BB and other stakeholders to develop a strategy for Borough High Street. The special focus will be on a small stretch of the street which has been identified by BB as having special potential to be incorporated into the BID area. This report shows some targeted initiatives for this specific area while also making recommendations on the long term strategy for the entire street.

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Context Prior to this report a detailed analysis was carried out for Bororugh High Street which is available in a seperate report.

This section is intended to sumarise the findings of this report.

During the first phase of project work it became quickly clear that Borough High Street is in the center of exciting new developments. In addition to this the rich history of the street seems almost forgotten in today’s use.

A major opportunity was identified to strengthen Borough High Street by focusing a series of simple interventions on the stretch of street between its intersection with Union Street and the junction surrounding St George the Martyr.

This report follows on from the initial analysis by outlining proposals for two main elements that can improve Borough High Street in the short and long term.

In the short term Alleyways leading off Borough High Street can be cleaned up and made more atractive for pedestrian use. This ties in with the Better Bankside Urban Forst Project which is one of the green spaces projects supported directly by the major of London. The main aim is to improve east west connectivity in the Bankside and London Bridge area for pedestrians by improving existing green spaces and pedestrian through ways.

The improvement of Alleyways as shown in this report will enhance the area for local businesses and make the street more attractive for pedestrians. Success of simmilar projects can be seen in the vicinity of London Bridge area where the local Business Improvement District has carried out a project called Pocket Plaza which has targeted some small local squares and streets for improvement.

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A more longer term project will be the gradual improvement of the junction around St George the Martyr. Analysis has identified this area as a crutial node in the area where public transport pedestrian and vehicle traffic interface. Another opportunity to influence this area will be the redevelopment of Brandon House which is currently being asessed by Southwark Council.

Clarifying the traffic situation for pedestians and vehicles will help to relive congestion and encourage use of the local tube station. Opening up and connecting of green spaces in this area will encourage use of the square around the church and draw in customers for local businesses. Simmilar changes on a much bigger sclae have been proposed for the Elephant and Castle redevelopment. And the introduction of Desire Lines at Oxford Circus has prooved highly suckessfull.

These proposed interventions are intended as a beginning of further regeneration of Borough High Street which will need to be tied in with ongoing works of Transport for London and Thames Water who are currently replacing water mains along the northern stretch of Borough High Street. In the long term the vitality of Borough High Street will be crutial to larger developments taking place at Elephant and Castle and London Bridge Station as this street connects the two development hubs.

With this report we hope to give some ideas of what could be achieved with comparatively simple means and what more can be done by integrating these with a long term strategy.

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The Forgotten alleyways of Borough High Street • • • • •

Mermaid Court (1) Chapel Court (2) Angel Place (3) Little Dorrit Court (4) Public Realm

The Eastern side of Borough High Street is within the Conservation area and one that is steeped in history. The buildings are mostly privately owned and any major alterations would be a costly and time consuming exercise.

The proposals for these areas are simple interactions to open Borough High Street to become part of the new landscape of London Bridge and a link to the regeneration of Elephant and Castle. The interventions are to be simple and to encourage the participation of the local community to become more involved in how they want to use the existing spaces.

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Key: Semi Public Park Enclosed Public Park Private Area

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Mermaid Court

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Mermaid Court The signage along Borough High Street has no uniformity or sufficient information for the current users and any potential users that may venture into the area.

In order to extend the use of the links from Borough High Street these need to have a clear and precise and homogeneous so the street forms a clear space. The one main aspect that is lacking within the street is nature and this gives an overall effect of grey, this is where a simple intervention could change the entire outlook of Borough High Street.

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Mermaid Court hosts a variety of educational institutions that are not obvious to the lay person passing the area.

The first most important aspect is to ‘tidy up’ the street, something as simple as painting the facade so that it looks maintained and wanted and not discarded by its owners. This would make the street more desirable and somewhere that could make a possible short cut to another space.

The second would be to introduce a niche market, something similar to Borough Market that has grown in popularity over the years. Due to the variety of educational institutes in the area a book market would be a positive move.

This would initially attract the local students looking for bargain books but in time through word of mouth would increase the user interface within the area.

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Chapel Court Chapel Court is lined mainly with businesses and is better maintained than the other streets. A more colourful street facade and more plants would open the court to just the pub on the corner.

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Angel Place

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Angel Place Angel Place is highly underutilised as its location is between the Library and St George the Martyrs Church, and the alleyway has an entry onto St Georges Gardens.

The walls along the pathway of the library are in angular formation and large enough for displays. This would be ideally used for art work; this could be commissioned to a local artist or to just engage the local community. This could then be advertised in the local and wider area as a way to attract the public.

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Little Dorrit Court and Park

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Demolition Existing Buildings Private Land New paving for public space Pathway leading to exits

Little Dorrit Court and Park This is a ‘public’ park but is enclosed within walls thus inhibiting its use by the public. The pathway leading via backstreets to the Southbank is currently winding past areas of private land and less used areas. This would become more accessible if the entire park was opened and used as part of the public realm.

Opening of the park and revealing spaces for seating and lining the area with trees instead of a wall would ensure that the space could become not only as a passageway to another area but a place to stay and dwell in. Using the park and making it part of Borough High Street encourages movement of people and gives the local community an opportunity to take ownership of the park.

Future enhancments can also include signage and community based projects to ilustrate the history of the park. A vibrant local park just off Borough High Street will create a benefit to local b usinesses by encouraging pedestrians and local residents to explore the area and local retail offer. Inparticular tying Little Dorrit Park into a wider network of green space as shown on the following pages will enhance this effect.

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New Street Square

Devonshire Square

St Paul’s Green, Hammersmith

Public Realm The public realm of Borough High Street requires a lot of work to improve the flow of pedestrians to and from the area.

Creating an area for the public that brings Borough High Street within the new busy built environment of London Bridge Station, the South Bank and Elephant and Castle.

The opening of Little Dorrit Park will encourage the flow of pedestrians and increase revenue for the businesses within the area.

Borough High Street itself requires an intervention of interactive street furniture that brings the use of nature and fun into the currently mundane street scape.

Stratford High Street

Taunton Town Centre

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St George the Martyr - Recreating a Square • • • •

Analysis Island of St George the Martyr Desire Lines Brendan House and Little Dorrit Park

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Analysis

Photographs and Building Massing

Existing Situation - Photographs and Building Massing Borough High Street Project

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A A

Existing Situation - Green Spaces Plan and Section Borough High Street Project

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Island of St George, the Martyr’s Church The traffic island of St. George, the Martyr’s Church, opposites where Borough High Street tube station, occupies an important position within the framework of regenerating Borough High Street. It provides an integration of St. George Gardens, the redevelopment of Brandon House and Little Dorrit Park. In our proposal, we are proposing: Upgrading the hard landscaping of the island site of St George and to include soft landscaping and a kiosk/cafe together with seating area to enhance the site as an important sociable space, similar to the flat iron square project at Union Street.

We hope the local community and the surrounded workforce and the training college at Long Lane to use the cafe and socialise and congregate here. We proporse to plant mature plane trees to make a ‘grove’ in this island. Proposed new surface, possibly of Porphyry setts, to match the Flat Iron Square, to establish a connected pedestrian ground, evoking qualities of the forest ground/experience. Possibly to introduce an Art Piece to be displayed at this island site - this also encourages the local artists to participate, like the scheme, for example, ‘Power House’, an installation by Angela Wright as part of London Festival of Architecture in 2008. The ‘Power House’, an installation on street facades can also apply to walls of John Harvard Library facing the Churchyard.

Analysis of St George island site and the surrounding context

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In line with the current Borough and Bankside Streetscape Improvement Programme, we are proposing to close off Tabard Street, to develop a new surface space between St George’s Gardens and St George, the Martyr churchyard by creating a high quality link between London Bridge and Tabard Street to the South with landscaping, pedestrian and cycle facilities and a bus stand. It is aimed to create this closed road as a cleaner, greener and safer space, and to maximimise the use of St George’s Gardens and Churchyard, the green space. Hence, a link to the Island of St George.

Proposed studies of improvements of St George open/green spaces, the redevelopment of Brandon House, Little Dorrit Park and the Traffic junction at Borough High Street Tube; the street improvements at Tabard Street, Long Lane.

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Desire Lines We note that to enhance the community safety along the route from BoroughTube into Bankside, there is a proposed traffic lighting scheme at Marshalsea Road as part of the Borough and Bankside Streetscape Improvement Programme, this would help the junction of the existing Borough High Street tube station. We are also proposing a pedestrian crossing like Oxford Street intercrossing to improve the integration of the pedestrian movements within Borough High Street Tube, St. George, the Martyr’s Gardens and Churchyard, Brandan House redevelopment and the training College at Long Lane.

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Brandon House and Little Dorrit Park Earmarked for possible demolition, the redevelopment of Brandon House poses another opportunity to improve the urban realm and character of Borough High Street.

An environmental asessment was carried out by Southwark Council to replace the existing building with a mixed use development of five to eight stories in height.

We believe the new development coud be instrumental in its massing and destribution of uses to improve this node of Borough High Street. Creating two volumes with their maximum height on the street corner will define the space and at the same time create a gateway to Little Dorrit Park. This also creates a more generous area of pavement which allows a better connection to Borough Underground station. The introduction of desire lines that allow diagonal crossing then connects this new space with the enhanced square around St George the Martyr and the adjoining green.

These measures create spaces for pedestrians and cycle parking which will relieve the pressure on this congested intersection of Borough High Street at a node where it will be possible to see the visual connections to London Bridge and Elephant and Castle with their new tower developments.

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Streetview of new proposed massing for Brendan House. Little Dorrit Park can be seen through the gap between the two new blocks. The south facing facades of both blocks present valuable opportunities to integrate solar power harvesting and other sustainability measures.

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Reference Projects

Proposed crossing at Borough High Street Tube to match the proposal of Oxford Circus, a Japanese-style “scramble-crossing”.

Proposed Cafe/kiosk to St George Gardens, to be in line with the Flat Iron Square scheme at Union Street Reference project for improvement of area South to Church - clear and open space.

Proposed hard and soft landscaping

Proposed artwork to John Harvard’s Library facades similar to Angela Wright’s installation to 54 Union Street, previously installed during London Festival of Architecture in 2008

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Roel Vandebeek bike stand

Wolder street furniture

Planted Street Furniture

Blackett Street, Newcastle

Wenlock Basin, Regents Canal

City Lounge, Switzerland

MoMA, New York

Alexandre Moronnoz Design

Y. Fehling J. Peiz Banks Design

Private/Public Street Furniture

Les Passages, Paris

Conceptual Garden at Hampton Court

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Construction Works affecting Borough Construction works effecting Burorgh High High Street, Timeline for Proposed Street ....Timeline for proposed completion Completion Summer 2010 Temporary removal and subsequent replacement of two listed bollards, ON PAVEMENT BETWEEN 1 AND 2 STONEY STREET, AND JUNCTION OF BEDALE STREET AND BOROUGH HIGH STREET, LONDON, SE1 9AA Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd.

2010 Along with 7 More London Riverside, the existing terrace of buildings located along Tooley Street is the last remaining plot awaiting development in the More London Estate.

2015 London Bridge Bus Station - completely New modern station and track layout to remove bottlenecks and increase the no of through platforms, improve passenger facility and increase capacity at the station.

The Sellar Property Group in collaboration with Network

2012 SHARD OF GLASS Shard London Bridge, London Bridge Place is also owned by the Sellar Property Group and was designed by Renzo Piano..

2011 - 7 Green Dragon Court, SE1 9AL Change of use from existing storage / warehouse (B8 Use Class) to Hostel and Coffee

Summer 2010 Borough High Street southbound traffic closure [between NatWest Bank and BHS Underground Station] Thames Water / British Gas. Gas and water mains renewals/repairs

2012 Adjoining the much taller Shard, London Bridge Place is also owned by the Sellar Property Group and was designed

by Renzo Piano..

Incorporated into the design is a new piazza which host an entrance lobby to the offices, a new entrance to London Bridge Underground Station and a New Bus Station

Nov 2009 John Harvard Library Southwark Council Refurbishment completed

2011 The Castle housing project Completion of new block of flats, and works to landscape

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Dagmar Binsted

PgCert (Architecture) Certificate in Professional Practice and Management, University College London 2004 Dipl.-Ing. (Univ.) Architektur Technische Universität München 2000 RIBA councillor – non executive director RIBA Enterprises – chair South London Society of architects – founder of db architecture studio - project architect for £60M project, design team leader on £70M project, innovative thinker and urbanist working towards a sustainable future

Kamal Chunilal

B.Arch (MS University, India) 1986, MA Urban Design (University of Westminster) 1999.

Project Management, Urban Design and Architectural experience in managing Housing, Institutional and Commercial Projects ranging up to 27M. Key interest in Urban Form Analysis and developing Urban Design Strategy through creative concepts, theoretical and practical applications. Possess leadership, coaching, communication and negotiating abilities coupled with excellent drawing and presentation skills.

Paget Clarke

BSc (Hons) Architecture North London Polytechnic , Diploma in Architecture, North East London Polytechnic , Associate Member, Association of Building Engineers Associate Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Over 25 years of experience in architectural design, planning, building control, the management of construction projects, and leadership of professional and technical teams, public and private sector clients. Current focus is on sustainability in architectural design, retrofit to Passivhaus Standard, recent experience in the design and construction of Lifetime homes.

Natasha Coutts

Architect Part I, BA(Hons) BA(Hons) Architecture, Newcastle University 2008 Experience working on affordable housing projects as well as individual private residences. Interested in architectural development in the Far East and British sculpture. Hopes to one day have her own practice combining architecture with sculpture and art.

Jiewen Feng

Sustainability/Buillding Physics Consultant (UK), Architect (China) MSc Energy & Sustainable Building Design, De Montfort University 2007 Bachelor of Architecture, University of Science and Technology of Suzhou, China.

In China, Architectural practice ranging from residential, office, commercial and factory with focus on residential development projects. In the UK, experience involving using building physics to develop low carbon design through optimising building’s various elements.

The Team

Erica Jong

MSc Planning Buildings for Health, South Bank University 2005-2007 MSc [Hons] Construction&Corporate Management, South Bank University 20002001 - RIBA Part III [Merit], University of Westminster 1998-1999 - BArch [Hon] University of New South Wales, Australia 1990-1994 - 15 years of experience in the construction industry in the UK and overseas. Previously at Sheppard Robson, healthcare sector director and associate; and senior architect at Terry Farrell.

Founded EJA in 2008. Interested in achieving architectural projects by synthesing design, construction and management, in a holistic way.

Eli Konvitz

Urbanist and multidisciplinary spatial planner, with expertise in climate change and sustainable development; master-planning; and integrating policy, economics, design, and implementation. Experience in consultancy, most recently at Arup, and academia. Independent consultant and director of localCarbon Ltd., reducing carbon emissions by leveraging private investment to fund retrofit of existing buildings.

Denise Leitao

MA in International Planning and Sustainable Development (RTPI accredited) BA Architecture and Town Planning.

Town Planning experience includes Urban Planning, Master plan, Map Processing and Urban Design. Developed two large projects in Ceará, Brazil, including mapping of all shantytowns within the state and the surveying of all material architectural goods. My architectural experience to date includes Industrial, Residential and Hotel design.

Currently working for a market research company (FDS International).

Stephen Ware

BA (Hons), Dip (Arch) Diploma in Architecture, University of Westminster 2008 - BA (Hons) Architecture, University of Greenwich 2004 - Experience working on various new-build projects ranging from £2M to £24M. I enjoy researching and exploring the technical elements of any design especially those for modern buildings and interiors.

Particularly interested in green issues, low carbon and sustainable design. This project has given me my first experience in dealing with some of the challenges faced in urban design.

Naghmana Zia-Ud-Din

Architect BA(hons), Dip(Arch), ARB Professional Practice in Architecture, London Metropolitan University 2009 - Diploma in Architecture, London Metropolitan University 2007 BA(Hons) Architecture, London Metropolitan University 2003 Experience working on high end residential projects ranging from £200,000 to £2.5M. Interested in renovating and implementing new energy efficient technologies to existing buildings, to form a juxtaposition of the modern with the traditional and conforms to creating a better environment.

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