| Summary : The Barbican, located in the City of London, is an estate containing residential housing, communal and public buildings designed by the architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon for the owners the Corporation of London. The complex is constructed from poured in situ reinforced concrete with Pen Lee granite aggregate. Some of the public buildings and features are also faced with glazed engineering brick cladding. There are flat asphalted roofs, paved with concrete tiles in keeping with the wall finishes.The housing comprises flats, maisonettes and terraced houses, while the public and communal buildings include a fire station, coroner's court, a hostel, the City of London School for Girls, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Barbican Centre. The Barbican Centre is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe and contains theatres, a concert hall, cinemas, art galleries, a conservatory, conference suites, trade halls, function rooms and three restaurants. The Barbican was designed in 1955-59 while the arts centre element was redesigned in 1964-8. The entire complex was built over a nearly twenty year period beginning in 1962-3. The initial phases of construction included the building of the City of London School for Girls and Milton Court from 1963, and the estate housing in 1964-75. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama was built in 1971-7 and the Arts Centre in 1971-82. The housing estate covers an area of 35 hectares and is set on a raised pedestrian podium built on various levels, linked by a network of steps, raised walks and pedestrian bridges. Ground level car parking is situated beneath the estate. The residential accommodation comprises 2113 flats and maisonettes contained in three 125 metre high triangular residential tower blocks, smaller residential blocks and terraced housing. The City of London School for Girls was altered in 1990-1 and a principal entrance from Whitecross Street built for the Barbican Centre in 1993-5. |
More information : An estate containing residential housing, communal and public buildings designed by the architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon for the owners the Corporation of London. The estate was first planned in 1956. These plans were revised and approved in 1959 and construction by Ove Arup and Partners was started in 1963. The housing was completed in 1975. The estate covers an area of 35 hectares and is set on a raised pedestrian podium built on various levels, linked by a network of steps, raised walks and pedestrian bridges. Ground level car parking is situated beneath the estate. The residential accommodation comprises 2113 flats and maisonettes contained in three 125 metre high triangular residential tower blocks, smaller residential blocks and terraced housing. The communal and public buildings include the Arts Centre, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the City of London School for Girls. (1-2)
The first, and only detached, building to be constructed on the Barbican site was Milton Court. Among the service functions it housed was a fire station and a coroner's court. This block, the only detached element of the scheme, wasn't included with the rest of the complex when it was listed in 2001.
In 1971, construction began on the site for the Barbican Centre, initially comprising a concert hall and theatre. Conference facilities and the Pit were later additions.
Please see source for further details. (3)
According to this website, the Barbican centre is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe. As well as the 1949-seat Barbican Hall and 1166-seat Barbican Theatre, the centre contains the 200-seat Pit theatre, three cinemas, two art galleries, a vast area comprising foyers and public spaces, the Lakeside Terrace, a roof-top conservatory, conference suites, trade halls, function rooms and three restaurants.
Please see website for details of upcoming events. (4)
An estate of flats, maisonettes and terraced houses, a hostel, a girls' school, a school of music and drama, and an arts centre (with concert hall, theatre, studio theatre, cinemas, library, art gallery, conservatory, restaurants and offices), with underground car parking, pedestrian walks and canal. It was designed in 1955-59 while the arts centre element was redesigned in 1964-8. The Barbican was built with modifications in 1962-82 to the designs of Chamberlin, Powell and Bon for the Corporation of the City of London.
The initial phases of construction included the building of the City of London School for Girls in 1963-9 and the estate housing in 1964-75. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama was built in 1971-7 and the Arts Centre was built 1971-82.
The complex is constructed from poured in situ reinforced concrete with Pen Lee granite aggregate and, upon some of the public buildings and features, glazed engineering brick cladding. There are flat asphalted roofs, paved with concrete tiles in keeping with the wall finishes. The main blocks are supported by concrete columns forming an extension to the bored piles sunk up to 60 feet deep. The tower blocks' main structure is formed by a central lift shaft and stairwells with a peripheral framework of beams and split piers rising from exposed columns. The structure of the terrace blocks is based in concrete cross-walls supported on columns with floor slabs spanning between the cross-walls and the balcony edge beams. The Podium and the tower blocks have thick upswept concrete balustrades developed by Ove Arup and Partners in consultation with the architects in 1961. The housing estate covers a 35-acre rectangular site.
The City of London School for Girls was altered in 1990-1 and a principal entrance from Whitecross Street built for the Arts Centre in 1993-5. (5)
Elain Harwood's publication, 'Chamberlin, Powell and Bon', contains an entire chapter devoted to the development and construction of Barbican. Here, Harwood discusses its design and the physical fabric of the individual buildings and structures in great detail. She also highlights its 'monumental' nature and its significance as 'the largest and most ambitious urban scheme to be fully completed in modern Britain'. It was considered remarkable not only for these qualities but also because it was almost completely uncommercial.
A major influence for the development was considered by Geoffrey Powell to be Le Corbusier, yet there were historical references as well. The towers of San Gimigano and the curved roofs of churches in Mykonos are two such influences cited by Harwood. She also compares its Arts Centre with London's South Bank complex, describing the latter as 'spacious and light-hearted' while former as 'tight-knit, introverted and implacably serious..' (6)
At the time of writing (2011) access to the listed building description is through the National Heritage List for England. (7)
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