London Wall Place

Following devastation by bomb damage during the Second World War, the site was developed as part of a new vision for London where streets were denied and walkways elevated as highwalks. The project has radically transformed the previous vacant tower and podium with new north/south and east/west links. For the first time a street level pavement has been established along London Wall.

Spacehub, with Make Architects, were guardians of the landscape in this complex, multi-levelled site. Ensuring soil volumes were retained for trees with the inclusion of 18 significant trees. The ambitious aspiration of the client included greening on every level, which required the expertise of the landscape architect to coordinate a plant palette for every microclimate.

The project has delivered a new green lung and social space in the heart of the City that is publicly accessible to all. At the heart of the design thinking was the aspiration to create a unique place in its own right where a little nature could reclaim the city.

‘Banding’ in the planting and in the architecture, reflects the alignment of the historic Roman Wall. Planting is encouraged to self-colonise, grow up buildings and flourish alongside social activities, contributing valuable new green infrastructure.

The material palette reflects an appropriate celebration of the various landscape layers. Concrete and flint have been used in the walls to match the Roman wall. Reclaimed Yorkstone ties into the historic paving around the Priory. Yorkstone coordinates with the City of London palette giving an open, flowing feel to the boundaries. Contemporary corten edging and bridges make their new mark on the design.

A key achievement has seen the creation of ground level amenity space in the heart of the city with the celebration of the existing historic elements central to this. Equally, in order to meet the brief a diverse plant palette had to be developed in order to achieve the client aspirations of greening multiple different microclimates.

London Wall Place demonstrates not just the ecological value of landscape but also the economic value. The commercial units closest to the gardens sold first which is an important message to future clients on what users value the most.

The most robust element is the plant palette. 650sqm of the site is under the soffit of the building and 96sqm is at basement level. Similarly nearly, the entire site is on podium, every millimetre of space had to work hard to create an environment for the green infrastructure to thrive.

For this project, we developed a new balustrade detail in close collaboration with ANS Global. This detail is innovative, horticulturally ambitious and unique to London Wall Place. The Green wall wraps up and over the balustrade offering continuous, seamless green in a design that is safe edge protection.

We worked closely with Salter’s Hall to integrate level access into their previously inaccessible lower level garden and with the City of London Corporation for re-modelling of St Alphage Gardens. This collaborative working has provided an interlinked, multi-level and publicly accessible series of gardens for the mutual benefit of all landowners and the public.

Our design for London Wall Place creates a garden retreat in the heart of the City, returning the site to a people-focused public realm. Heritage is celebrated and revealed in a sensitive setting with multi-level access, enabling visitor’s new vantage and appreciation of the layering of old and new.