IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section A
Abstract
The Barbican podium is a grade II* registered park and garden (RPG), grade II listed building and a conservation area. Chamberlin, Powell & Bon’s (CPB) original Brutalist design, augmented by Janet Jack’s planting, was failing and its historic character had eroded. The City of London’s brief was to replace the drainage and waterproofing system. The client and designers uncovered a unique opportunity for future-proofing by introducing climate resilience (75% increase in greening, 235% biodiversity net gain) while meeting 21st-century community needs of play, fitness facilities, accessibility and public art. The paper and session will explore the design evolution and challenges that enabled this successful heritage driven design. The scheme honours the Barbican’s urban form using modern materials, digital monitoring and modelling. Layout adaptations opened linear views across the site, framing the space and its Brutalist architecture by removing 1980s structures to restore the ‘spine’ of the site. Detailed study of the Barbican’s historic character greatly informed the design: tiled surfaces and curved oblong planting beds with up-swept edges set this scheme in the 20th century, while it’s construction and approach to biodiversity propels it into the 21st. A woodland-edge habitat was created to mirror the 1960s intended forest style design of CPB. Close stakeholder and community engagement was key. The 2025 Pineapple Award winning design incorporated CPB and Jack’s design intent while delivering significant change, which preserved and enhanced the historic character and significance of the Barbican, while enabling its future. This radically altered the RPG in a way that celebrates the CPB’s Brutalist landscape as developed by Jack and could provide a model for responsive adaptation for historic landscapes.
Sandra Honeywell is an Associate Heritage Director with over 20 years’ experience working across the UK and Ireland with a proven track record in assessment and analysis of historic buildings and townscape, preparation of heritage statements and statements of significance, heritage inputs to all stages of Environmental Impact Assessment and the planning process. Sandra provides specialist inputs on a wide variety of projects with particular expertise in preparing heritage inputs to infrastructure schemes including rail, highways, energy and water treatment facilities.
Ken Sabel leads the Heritage team in AtkinsRéalis. He is a Historic Conservation professional with a background in architectural history and heritage planning who specialises in conservation and change in the historic environment. He has 38 years’ experience with particular expertise in the provision of advice for large scale projects in sensitive locations, including many of the highest profile projects in the UK. He provides planning listed building consent and design advice for adaptation and retrofit of historic buildings. He taught the RTPI national masterclass in Cultural Heritage in the Planning Process and Cultural Heritage in Regeneration from 2013 -2018.
Chris Massey is a Principal Landscape Architect who is fascinated by the interplay between urban and natural systems. Chris places a strong emphasis on evidence-based strategies alongside strong design concept, ensuring that true meaning, functionality, and local character are central to any scheme. For him, creating truly special places that benefit nature and society is paramount. Chris has worked on projects across the UK and internationally, exercising his skills at a range of scales from landscape and ecological planning strategy to the complex and artistic conceptual design and construction of special places.
Amber Storey is a Heritage Consultant with the AtkinsRéalis Heritage team, she is a built heritage specialist and has a keen interest in heritage lead developments. She is a champion of heritage apprenticeships and a graduate of the Historic England HEAA apprenticeship programme. Amber has experience in a wide variety of large scale projects supporting the development of highly graded heritage assets to meet current environmental standards and net zero policy.
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Thursday 26th June, 2025