The London Festival of Architecture and Team London Bridge have announced a design competition to improve a pedestrian triangle outside London Bridge station. As London Bridge becomes one of the focus areas for this year’s London Festival of Architecture, the competition will create a lasting legacy for the area: improving the appearance of the streetscape and assisting wayfinding in front of the station, which has recently undergone a £1bn redevelopment.
The design competition is aimed at architects, designers and artists, who are invited to submit a design concept that will use visual clues and public realm infrastructure to transform the busy but unremarkable space on Tooley Street. The site is on routes to several major London landmarks: the riverside, City Hall, Southwark Cathedral and Borough Market. However, none of these key locations are immediately visible, and many people need to re-orientate themselves. In the context of funding from the Mayor of London, the project will promote clean air routes that people can easily choose to use over major routes that are more polluted.
The competition will be judged by a panel including Jonas Lencer (director, dRMM), Jack Skillen (placeshaping director, Team London Bridge), Tamsie Thomson (director, London Festival of Architecture) and Matthew Hill (head of highways, Southwark Council).
Following a public exhibition of shortlisted entries in June, the winning team will be revealed in July 2018 to develop a fully costed, feasible design that can be installed subject to planning consent. The total project budget is £23,000 + VAT.
Click here to read an interview with our Placeshaping Director Jack Skillen in Architects' Journal.
Tamsie Thomson, director of the London Festival of Architecture, said: “Hundreds of people pass through London Bridge station every day, and this competition is an opportunity to demonstrate how good design can make a difference even in everyday spaces. We are grateful to Team London Bridge for creating a brilliant opportunity to champion design talent in London, and to foster positive and lasting change to London’s public realm.”
Nadia Broccardo, executive director of Team London Bridge, said: “As people navigate their way around the new London Bridge station, we have a chance to alter their preferred routes and behaviours through clever public realm design. This competition offers someone the chance to have their design seen by millions of people every year, encourage them to use routes with cleaner air and providing more pleasant ways to explore London Bridge.”
The London Festival of Architecture is the world’s largest annual architecture festival. In June 2018 it will celebrate 14 years of innovation and design, through a programme that celebrates London as a global architectural hub and promotes positive change to its public realm. The theme for the 2018 event, which runs from 1-30 June across the capital, is ‘identity’. The partnership with Team London Bridge epitomises the London Festival of Architecture’s mission to support London architectural and design talent, enthuse and engage with the public, and find new ways to look at familiar places.
Find out more: