Welcome to the virtual exhibition for the future of Finsbury Circus Gardens, London EC2M 7DT. The City of London Corporation is bringing forward proposals to improve and revitalise Finsbury Circus Gardens following the completion of the Crossrail works which have occupied much of the Gardens for almost a decade. Our proposals will retain the Gardens’ character as a green haven, revitalise and enrich the planting, and carefully integrate an elegant new pavilion. In 2020, the City Corporation ran a design competition to select a design for the new pavilion and landscaping. The winners were announced in October 2020 and the plans are presented in this exhibition. As part of our engagement process, we are conducting a virtual exhibition showcasing our ambitions for the Gardens alongside a pop-up event in the Gardens themselves. This will provide an opportunity to view our proposals and to share feedback. This will be reviewed and will help us refine our detailed design proposals for the Gardens prior to submitting our planning application to The City of London Corporation. You can provide your feedback on the detailed plans for the Gardens set out in these boards by clicking on the ‘Feedback Form’ in the ‘Have Your Say’ section of our website. You can also provide your feedback via post. Our consultation will run until: 15th July 2021 FinsburyWelcome Circus Gardens Project Team The City of London Studio Weave Architecture 00 ReardonSmith Landscape Corporation The City of London Corporation is Studio Weave is an award-winning Architecture 00 is a London-based ReardonSmith Landscape LLP is the governing body of the Square RIBA Chartered Architecture design practice with a track record an independent practice formed Mile dedicated to a vibrant and Practice based in London that in delivering a broad range of towards the end of 2013. The studio thriving City, supporting a diverse balance a joyful, open-minded activities relating to the shaping of is led by Ed Freeman who has over and sustainable London within a approach with technical precision our built environment. Founded in 20 years’ professional experience globally successful UK. to create a diverse body of work 2005, the studio brings together as a landscape and urban designer, in the UK and abroad for public, skills in action-led research, urban and is comprised of landscape private and commercial clients. design strategy, architecture architects, urban designers, garden They are working across a range of and wider place-making with a designers, horticulturists and artists architecture (RIBA Chartered), urban detailed understanding of how who worked together for many strategy, public realm design and arts the physical fabric of buildings can years before the formation of projects. be accompanied by innovative, ReardonSmith Landscape. engaging and collaborative delivery processes. Finsbury Circus Gardens The Garden Today Finsbury Circus Gardens is the largest public open space within the City of London. We believe there is an opportunity to improve and revitalise the Gardens as the past decade has seen much of the space used as part of the construction of the nearby London Liverpool Street Crossrail Station. We are keen to respond to the increased demand for access to green public spaces following the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we want to ensure Finsbury Circus Gardens fulfils this demand for local workers, visitors and residents. There are a number of issues with the space, including: insufficient choices for movement a lack of seating choices the previous layout and bowling lacking the former wine bar within and across the gardens for users of the Gardens lawn limits public access to the pavilion which has been removed centre of the Gardens as part of Crossrail works existing stepped western access a limited range of planting types the tree canopy is dominated by and deteriorated paving limits that do not promote biodiversity in Plane trees making it less resilient accessibility the City to future pests or disease and limits diversity of the canopy Finsbury Circus Gardens is a listed Garden and is surrounded by a number of nearby Grade II* and Grade II listed buildings and is located within the Finsbury Circus Conservation Area. The Gardens also sit within close proximity to both the Bank and New Broad Street Conservation Areas. As a result, we are keen to ensure that our proposals respect the architecture and heritage of the local area. Finsbury Circus Gardens Finsbury Circus Gardens Our Vision The City of London Corporation is to implement a series of improvements to the Gardens which seek to retain its character as a green haven, revitalise and enrich planting, and carefully integrate an elegant new pavilion. Our proposals for the Gardens will: Celebrate and enhance the Introduce a new, highly Provide new areas of different Improve biodiversity by heritage of the Gardens and sustainable pavilion building planting types around the central introducing a wide range of new improve the landscape setting for complementary to the lawn, with seasonal colour to plant and tree species, habitats current and future generations. surrounding character to provide enhance interest year-round and for birds, bees and bats, and a café or restaurant within the provide a higher quality publicly green and biodiverse roofs on the Gardens. accessible destination fitting of pavilion and Park office. the context. Enhance accessibility through Introduce a new Park Office Respond to the City of the Gardens by introducing new and yard for the City Gardens’ London’s ambitions to improve paths and routes with more maintenance team from which to sustainability across the City. seating and providing a choice of maintain the surrounding network different types of seating in both of open spaces. shade and sun. Finsbury Circus Gardens Finsbury Circus Gardens The Pavillion The City Corporation proposes to introduce a new, highly-quality, sustainable pavilion building within the heart of the Gardens; complementary to the surrounding historic architectural context. We believe that the space can be complemented by reinstating a pavilion which will attract passers-by and improve facilities for existing users of the Gardens. The café use will be supplemented by the external covered seating that will allow users to sit and enjoy the Gardens. Design We have carefully studied the surrounding listed buildings and the conservation area in which the Gardens sit to ensure our proposals are an appropriate contemporary addition to the local context. The pavilion will also have a canopy covering the terrace area, allowing users of the café to overlook the central lawn - providing solar shading in the summer months and shelter from rain in the winter. The canopy will be supported by several columns supporting a vaulted ceiling. The base of the pavilion is clad in Portland stone up to 1m to reflect the materiality tradition of the City. Location and Access The pavilion will be located on the north-eastern edge of the Gardens to frame the central lawn, enjoying New rear entrace evening sun and panoramic views across the garden for a new dedicated entrance on the perimeter of to the pavilion the Gardens with close access to the perimeter gated for servicing and visitors.. This will allow those using the café to access directly from the rear and for servicing to be undertaken via the same entrance, minimising service route distances through the Gardens. Finsbury Circus Gardens Key Views Illustrative CGI Finsbury Circus Gardens Illustrative CGI Finsbury Circus Gardens Improving the Gardens The City of London Corporation want to make the Gardens a more inviting place for the local community to relax and enjoy. To achieve this the improvements will include: Removing a set of three steps near the Implementing planting that will Improving the routes through the western gate and replacing them with deliver habitats for invertebrates and Gardens. This includes re-using and a gently inclined path to provide step- birds, including bee posts for solitary Omission of the bowling green, which relaying the existing paths whilst free access bees and night scented flowers for introducing secondary paths to limited public access to the centre moths improve connectivity and tertiary of the garden, to allow new planting paths to allow greater access and areas and a new publicly accessible enjoyment of the gardens. flexible lawn space. Improving the signage to make it Improve the seating arrangement more concise, reducing the need for by providing many more seats and Instituting a sustainable drainage unnecessary signage. This will help places to sit, in both sun and shade. to improve the arrival experience The choice of seating includes new system to maximize the retention of Introducing additional herbaceous surface water in the ground for the and encourage engagement with the timber benches and Portland stone perennial planting around the edge of information the signs contain bespoke benches benefit of the trees and other planting. the central lawn The City Corporation are also keen to improve the tree canopy within the Gardens and they believe there is the opportunity to enhance this as part of their long-term strategy to improve the Gardens. This includes: Promoting diversity and Considering the choice of new resilience tree species tolerant of future climate change Ensuring appropriate spacing to allow for long-term health and growth Finsbury Circus Gardens Heritage Asset - Perimeter Trees Existing tree canopy retained and protected. Proposed trees. Tree selected for removal to enable improvement works. The tree strategy for the site is to maintain the heritage character of the Circus which would have origi- nally been planted with Planes, interspersed with Limes or Elm. The surviving mature trees are predom- inantly London Planes (Platanus hispanica) and the strategy is to retain the larger mature specimen and remove a small number of younger trees, to enable the improvements and to allow tree replacement to provide a more diverse tree canopy.