Evening shot of the Waterside Cafe at the Barbican Arts Centre, City of London
Evening shot of the Waterside Cafe at the Barbican Arts Centre, City of 1957 Chamberlin, Powell and Bon were commissioned to prepare a detailed scheme for what is now the entire Barbican estate. In 1959 Chamberlin, Powell and Bon produced their report. (It is in the form of a fairly lavish book, with sketches, plans and photographs, which can be found on the shelves of the Guildhall Library). The Court of Common Council approved the Barbican Scheme on 11th November 1959. Subsequently the architects changed their design of the exterior of the buildings from polished concrete or ceramic material, to rough concrete. The Barbican estate, as eventually built, employed concrete in a much more monumental way than was envisaged in the comparatively delicate designs in the 1959 Report. There were other changes before the final look was achieved. The design of the towers underwent changes after 1959. Work on the buildings began in 1963. The Barbican terraces blocks and towers were built over the period from 1964 to 1975. The construction of the Barbican Arts Centre came later - it was not completed until 1982. In a sense, the Barbican has never been completed. Frobisher Crescent was not fitted out. Its kitchens and bathrooms, ready to be installed, are still in storage, and it has been used as a business school for much of its life. The residential estate consists of 13 terrace blocks, grouped around the lake and green squares within the complex. The main buildings rise for up to seven floors above a podium level, which links all the facilities in the Barbican, providing a pedestrian route above street level. Some maisonettes are built into the podium structure. There is no vehicular access within the estate, but there are some car parks at the periphery of the estate. Public car parks are located within the Barbican centre. The estate also contains three of London's tallest residential towers, at 42 storeys and 123 metres (404 ft) high.
Size: 3320px × 5110px
Location: Waterside Cafe, Barbican Arts Centre, City of London
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: accomodation, architecture, concrete, design, evening, high-rise, landmark, tallest, tourism, tower, travel
