SOUTHBANK UNDERCROFT Cultural & Heritage Assessment Report SEPTEMBER 2014 QUOTES “The skate park is the epicentre of UK skateboarding and is part of the cultural fabric of London. It helps to make London the great city it is” Boris Johnson, Mayor of London “The Open Spaces Society considers that the Undercroft is of immense value as a public open space, in the heart of London” Kate Ashbrook, General Secretary, Open Spaces Society “Retaining the Undercroft signals that, as a culture, we are still able to respect those relationships, even when they are different to our own” Dr David Webb, Lecturer in Town Planning, Newcastle University “Preserve the integrity of Southbank, a sanctuary for skateboarders, and an important part of London history” Tony Hawk, World Champion Skateboarder “Skateboarding use brings a unique visual and cultural interest to this part of the South Bank” Catherine Croft, Director, Twentieth Century Society “The Undercroft – that symbol of edginess and counter-culture that the Southbank Centre is lucky enough to have embedded at its very core” Dr Matthew Barac, Research Leader for Architecture, London South Bank University “The Undercroft has brought together people from various backgrounds, created a vibrant public space and added real value to the lives of many young people” Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2008) “The issue of the Undercoft below the Queen Elizabeth Hall has proven to be a salient reminder of the need to understand not just the design of modern spaces but their historic and evolving use” Sara Crofts, Deputy Director, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings “It’s fun and friendly for tourists to come across and maybe for the average person to mingle with skateboarders on common ground” Mark Gonzales, Skateboarding Pioneer “This is a culturally and historically important area of the South Bank” Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall “For those people, it is not only a source of identity but also distinctiveness, social interaction, and coherence” Simon Hickman, Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas, English Heritage "The Undercroft is a free space for people to express themselves on a site of real significance to a global youth culture. It is part of what makes our capital city brilliant" Catherine Harrington, Director, The National Community Land Trust Network “This site has built up organically from the skateboarders themselves, generations of skateboarders, going back decades” Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter “The skate area already attracts marginalised young people; it already allows them to form diverse communities around a shared common interest” Dr Oliver Mould, Lecturer in Human Geography, University of London “Because of their potency and endurance it is hard to question the validity of the skaters on the South Bank” Sharon Ament, Director, Museum of London “In the case of the Undercroft, it is quite plain that future generations will have an interest in youth and street cultures” Dr William Gallois, Cultural Historian, Exeter University “Not only is the Undercroft iconic, it is a fantastic urban example of public recreational space and how these spaces can help bring people together” Helen Griffiths, Chief Executive, Fields in Trust CONTENTS AUTHORS Paul Richards Creative and Educational Director, UpRise Bonnie Kitching BSc MArch DipArch RIBA AABC, Architect Steffan Blayney BA (Hons) MSt (Oxon), Researcher, Long Live Southbank Contributor Louis Woodhead, Long Live Southbank 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 Description of the Existing Site 2.2 The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room 2.3 Description of the Proposals for the Festival Wing Site 3.0 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3.1 The Site in Context 3.2 Origins of Skateboarding 4.0 STATUTORY LEGISLATION & GUIDANCE 5.0 EXISTING DESIGNATIONS & POLICY SIGNIFICANCE 6.0 THE UNDERCROFT: ASSESSMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 6.1 Statement of Significance – Evidential Value 6.2 Statement of Significance – Historic Value 6.3 Statement of Significance – Aesthetic Value 6.3 Statement of Significance – Community Value 7.0 THE UNDERCROFT: ACTIVITY 7.1 Recreational and Cultural Uses 7.2 Cardboard City 7.3 Attitudes of the Owners 7.4 Proposed and Unbuilt Developments 8.0 THE UNDERCROFT: LONG LIVE SOUTHBANK 8.1 Long Live Southbank 8.2 Statement of Need 8.3 Restoring the Original Undercroft 8.3 A Way Forward 9.0 STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: LISTING DESCRIPTION APPENDIX 2: QUOTES FROM UNDERCROFT USERS APPENDIX 3: QUOTES FROM MEMBERS OF PUBLIC Southbank Undercroft 1970s. Image © Brian Gittings Southbank Undercroft 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Southbank Undercroft Cultural & Heritage Assesment Report is an in depth look at the importance of Southbank Undercroft; an exemplary manifestation of something that occupies the space where Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage merge, and then extends its branches far deeper into both areas, giving a contemporary understanding of how we view and interpret culture in an ever-changing world. It illustrates the evolution and adaptability of a community and physical expression which is inextricably linked to the physical environment in which it resides; a ‘found space’ on the ground level of the Queen Elizabeth Hall brutalist building constructed on the South Bank of the Thames between Waterloo Bridge and Hungerford Bridge in 1968. Southbank Undercroft is distinctively different from all other creative practices in the Southbank Centre complex of buildings which are, in one way or another, formalised, programmed, structured with routine, granted permission, and reliant upon commission, finance and audience. The very organic nature by which the culture and community came into existence, and continued to evolve and grow, despite changes in the management and physicality of the buildings it is situated in, sets a precedent and makes it a solitary and unique case without counterpart. The intention of this report is to provide a deeper insight into the historical, cultural and emotional significance which resonate both within and beyond the specific site. It also looks at ensuring a fully-formed understanding of what honest and integral preservation means, in order to create the basis and framework by which the culture is allowed to continue to evolve by its own direction, free from external influence, alteration and direction. The campaign group, emanating from and initiated by the Undercroft community, unites skateboarders, locals and supporters from around the world who are dedicated in protecting the Southbank Undercroft in its current form. As the historical resident community, existing for over 40 years, users of the Undercroft are keen to actively engage as a community group and have a voice and be involved with the key decisions about the spaces immediate and long-term future. For the past 17 months thousands of members of the community, led by skateboarders, have actively engaged in the campaign to protect the space and over 150,000 people have signed up to a statement of preservation. Statements of support for preservation of the tangible physical and architectural space as well as the organic cultural intangible heritage have come from a large number of significant contributors from across the areas of architecture, planning, academia, politics, culture and the arts. There is a compelling argument for the sympathetic restoration of the complete Undercroft as per the original design. Particularly when considering it also realises the original architects’ intended vision and plan. This sets a president for an arts centre which can work in synergy with the creative and cultural energy that makes the space what it is, and provides a leading example of what can be achieved by considered community collaboration. Cultural and Heritage Assessment Report September 2014 © Long Live Southbank Page 5 of 120 Southbank Undercroft 2.0 INTRODUCTION This Heritage Assessment has been prepared in order to support the preservation, in its current form, of Southbank Undercroft (hereafter, ‘the Undercroft’). The Undercroft is situated in the supporting structures beneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which form part of the Southbank Centre complex, on the South Bank Estate in the London Borough of Lambeth, between Waterloo Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. In the first instance, research and physical analysis has been undertaken of the Undercroft space as the supporting structure of the overall building to establish the significance of the space in terms of evidential, historical, aesthetic and communal quality, this baseline information and assessment is used to prepare a series of design parameters which fully consider the heritage significance of the site. This report has been written to information and policies detailed in The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other relevant guidelines. The aim of the report is to give an overview of the history of the site and its uses, to show how they have developed over time and to give a statement of significance to indicate why the building is important in heritage terms. The report gives an overview of the significance in terms of cultural value, artistic value, recreational value, community value, social value, health and well-being. 2.1 Description of the Existing Site Southbank Centre comprises the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall (located above the Undercroft) and the Purcell Room, and the Hayward Gallery. Beyond the Southbank Centre itself, the South Bank area is regarded as a cultural quarter and comprising the independently managed National Theatre, British Film Institute (National Film Theatre 1951-2007) and the BFI IMAX cinema. Graphical representations of Southbank Centre site. Images from public domain 2.1.1 Ownership and Management In 1985 when the abolition of the Greater London Council (GLC) was announced, the Arts Council took over responsibility for the South Bank Centre and the then Deputy Secretary-General, Richard Pulford began work setting up the South Bank Board. 1 year later the South Bank Board took over Cultural and Heritage Assessment Report September 2014 © Long Live Southbank Page 6 of 120 Southbank Undercroft control of the concert halls from the GLC, as a constituent part of the Arts Council.