Cultural Cities Report Part 2 - from Future Cities Forum at the Barbican

The second part of our report form the Barbican Centre-hosted 'Cultural Cities' discussion event involved contributions from (pictured above from left) Andy Williams, Director of Regeneration and Economy at Coventry City Council, Christopher Burton, Architect Director BDP, Stephen Smith, Partner at Wright & Wright Architects, Sir Anthony Seldon, author, historian and a founding trustee of the Museum of the Prime Minister. Neil Kirby, Head of Growth at the London Borough of Southwark, and Scott Carroll, Director at LDA Design. Gareth Wilkins, Partner at Pilbrow & Partners, also joined the panel which was facilitated by Heather Fearfield, co-founder of Future Cities Forum.

The panel discussed the imperative of creating new museums and cultural offers for cities, heritage as a cultural attraction and how restoration is carefully managed, the re-use of retail space for cultural collections, preserving the 'grit' of cultural districts over gentrification and how culture and place is developing in the east of London.

Sir Anthony Seldon the author and historian, who is setting up the Museum of the Prime Minister, was keen to talk about the need to preserve democracy and educate young people about its value

Sir Anthony the political biographer and historian of Downing Street, and Scottish entrepreneur Robert Kilgour are behind the initiative to create the Museum of the Prime Minister. The pair have set up a registered charity to drive the plans forward. The mission of the charity is to establish a permanent museum “where visitors can explore the achievements, failures and decisions of British prime ministers”. It is hoped that museum will open in Westminster in 2030.

Sir Anthony explained the value of the proposed new museum:

'I have been recently walking across Europe and have come across wonderful places and fabulous squares which had been destroyed from among other things like bombing. We must learn from the past and what people consider fine places to live. Democracy is in retreat everywhere, for instance the rights of Muslims are being undermined. What can be learned from the past and the Cold War.? Democracy is collapsing under the weight of male despots in a similar way as events in the 1930s. So the Museum of the Prime Minister is something that is precious. We have to fight for democracy and tell young people what the reality of today really is. We have to communicate the value of beauty, community and shared spaces.'

There was a challenge to Sir Anthony on whether he would have to offer some entertainment value, such as the discussion of scandals around prime ministers, in the proposed museum to attract young people to visit, as it is the younger audience that seem to be turned off politics. He stated:

'There have been scandals in Westminster but that often downplays the courage and kindness of so many people in the House of Commons. The building itself has been left to decay and it is an exorbitant cost to bring it back. I was there the other day and saw a rat run across the floor. We need to educate people about the fifty-eight prime minsters and tell the story. The top nine prime minsters all have black marks against them, from Marconi to sexual scandals. Lloyd George had a wife and mistress living with him in Number Ten, Tony Blair had an opportunity to re-make Britain and didn't do it and we need to have a nuanced view of Winston Churchill. You could talk outside Number Ten about other leaders such Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, who could be criticised but they did an overwhelmingly good job.'

Sir Anthony was asked about where the physical museum might be based in the future. He suggested:

'It will have a huge digital presence, but will also need to be in central London as that is the centre of government. It will open in the 2030s around the anniversary of Walpole moving into Downing Street. It would be wonderful if it could be close to Westminster. We have a temporary exhibition currently in Westminster Hall, where you can see Henry VIII's tennis balls stuck up in the rafters. We are looking at other spaces too, so that everyone can visit.'

There was a question from Emma Markiewicz of the London Metropolitan Archives, about what the City of London could do to collaborate? Sir Anthony replied:

'We can only do this collaboratively and follow where you have learned. The US has museums dedicated to every president and our museum will be a drop in the ocean, but it will help and it will be precious. I have dedicated two of my books to the late MP Jo Cox. We have to help people realise that democracy is in decline and it is possible that countries that are currently democracies will no longer be in the future.'

Image: courtesy of BDP

The discussion followed on with BDP's Christopher Burton describing the project to restore the Houses of Parliament and its northern estate

Christopher said:

'The Houses of Parliament has evolved over time and wasn't designed for so many workers and visitors. It is clear that the infrastructure is failing them and failing those who are engaged with democracy. There is an imperative to tackle this not just as an anchor for cultural engagement but for our society as a whole. We need to make the building more open and allow it to change, while giving it a sustainable future.

further to this BDP states:

'The Delivery Authority has carried out over 50,000 hours of intrusive survey activity to help us better understand the condition of the building. This work covers all aspects of the Palace; looking at ground conditions, floors and ceilings, heritage items, and air quality. We have also been assessing fire risk, asbestos, mechanical and engineering services, sewage and drainage, heating and ventilation and accessibility. This information is used to inform detailed architectural designs on every aspect of every building. 

'It is using cutting edge digital models to map our survey information digitally and create a 3D digital map of every aspect of the Palace, for the first time, which will inform the scope of works and how we do things in the future. This rich data is a single source of information and replaces thousands and thousands of drawings and files.

'The Architectural Fabric Collection numbers more than 5000 items designed for the Palace’s rich interiors and exterior. Now detached from the building, these include architectural stone details, metalwork, woodwork, floor-tile design, panelling, fabrics, and wallpaper.

'When the Palace was built in the mid-1800s, Augustus Pugin was appointed Superintendent of the Works of Wood Carving, responsible for all the designs for wood, stained glass, tiles and metalwork. The richly decorated rooms on the Principal Floor best illustrate his enthusiasm for Gothic Revival design. Further decoration was added later by Charles Barry’s son, Edward, after his father’s death. Gilbert Scott continued the Gothic Revival theme in his interiors after the Second World War.

One of the most ubiquitous examples of architectural fabric are the Pugin-designed encaustic tiles. These often incorporate symbols like the Tudor Rose, the Fleur de Lis and the Portcullis and were laid throughout the Palace between 1847 and 1852. Many of the tiles that can be seen in the Principal Floor of the Palace today are 20th century replicas, with the worn originals archived in the Architectural Fabric Collection.'

Christopher was asked the question about how far back as a society do we value heritage - what of the post war 1950s and 60s buildings that often come in for criticism and on the list for demolition. Are we too close to that history, to value it?

'We are living in a different context in our villages, towns and cities. We should value all the infrastructure that makes up our built environment and working with those buildings is essential. We need to appreciate the past but also what any new interpretation can bring. Historic buildings have needed to adapt but they also need to re-invent themselves to be relevant. Other areas such as the commercial sector needs to catch up. We cannot look at buildings in silos.'

Image of Lambeth Palace and gardens: courtesy of Wright & Wright

Taking the preservation of heritage further, Wright and Wright Architects joined the discussion to talk about its masterplan for Lambeth Palace. The practice has described the remit of the project:

'Home to the Archbishops of Canterbury for 800 years, the buildings of Lambeth Palace are richly resonant with a history of residents, staff and visitors.  Over the centuries, the Palace and its occupants have marked momentous events as well as celebrated the routines of daily life, worship, ministry and hospitality.  Enacted down the centuries, these activities emphasise the temporal nature of human existence and how the imprint of life is expressed through places and buildings.

'The masterplan for the Palace will augment and extend this remarkable continuum through a carefully considered programme of repair and remodelling.  It will strengthen and affirm links within the Lambeth Palace community and reframe its relationship with the wider public realm, enabling it to play an even more distinctive role in national religious and cultural life, as part of the Church of England’s long term mission.'

Partner at Wright & Wright Stephen Smith commented:

'You need catalysts to make projects happen. The catalyst for Lambeth Palace was a need to protect their archive of manuscripts, books and artefacts. They built a library and archive first and that released space - space for a master-plan to be developed with a focus on making a sustainable estate. In four years they have made 70% progress towards zero carbon which is amazing for a listed building. The Church Commissioners put together a team which included Arup. We then worked together to move everything at the Palace off gas boilers, and now it is all running on air source heat pumps.

'Now we are working to replace all the windows but we have Historic England on side so we can make a 40% improvement by using a 'fabric first' approach, and we have an energy centre on-site. Two tips....have the 'and' factor. when you are going to spend money. It really helps to have the 'and' factor giving an additional benefit. In the case of replacing an ancient gas kitchen with a modern electric equivalent, it made it so much safer for moving the team back there. That made the master-plan move relatively quickly.'

Stephen was asked whether Lambeth is too fortress-like and whether the local communities engage with it. He responded:

'Fortresses can be OK if they protect. However a lot of people do not realise that 80% of the work that Lambeth Palace does is charitable so it's about getting the NHS or the armed forces in to visit for events and it is done discreetly. It's not about generating huge footfall from the public in the way that the London Museum, for instance, needs to do.'

Above: the recently completed library and archive building at Lambeth Palace, facing the Evelina Hospital across the road (Courtesy Wright & Wright Architects)

Cultural attractions and new museums are now being seen as the focus for economic development in cities as society's attitude to retail and shopping has changed. Empty high street shops are being turned into cultural opportunities either as small galleries or artists studios. Coventry City Council, which joined our forum, has seen the former IKEA building in the city centre as a chance for re-use and to house an important cultural collection. It reports:

'The former IKEA building, currently known as the City Centre Cultural Gateway (CCCG) will become a landmark destination in Coventry with hopes to bring together multiple local and national partners across transport, technology and the creative and cultural sectors to engage local people. 

'In 2020 IKEA closed the building and it was purchased by Coventry City Council with a vision to transform it into a vibrant cultural hub. Whilst plans for the building have been taking shape, the building has been open for interim use. It has often been used as a filming set and was included as a location for Lenny Henry’s drama, Three Little Birds and BBC’s fashion series, Style It Out. The building has also been home to Hollywood Games and has often been used as a meeting and working space for local and national businesses.  

'The CCCG aims to be a central hub for culture and community in the heart of the city centre. The building will boast national collection management facilities, artists’ studios, post-production filming facilities, galleries and a public cafe. As the project grows, it promises to not only enrich Coventry's cultural landscape but also stimulate economic growth. High-level economic projections suggest the potential for significant job creation and economic value, bolstering Coventry's position as a vibrant hub. Led by Coventry City Council, the project works alongside organisations including the British Council, Arts Council England, CV Life and Coventry University.'

Above: aerial view of Coventry city centre in 2021 (courtesy www.webbaviation.co.uk )

Andy Williams, Director of Regeneration and Economy at Coventry City Council, spoke at Future Cities Forum's 'Cultural Cities' of the benefits of health and wellbeing that culture has brought :to the city:

'We need to create places that the community want to enjoy. We have new communities coming into the city and we are developing our civic centre. We were UK City of Culture in 2021 and that was very significant for the city. It is bringing a strong economy back after Covid. We are finding ways to use the legacy of that year of culture and we have been very successful at bidding for levelling up funding.

'We are the only city that has an IKEA store in its centre. It opened in 2007 in a more affluent time when we thought the future of the city centre was going to be all about retail. This has drastically changed now. We are having conversations with the Arts Council and the British Council - the latter giving us some of its collection. This is very much activating our communities. The IKEA store is now needed to become our cultural collections centre. It is next to some of our poorest neighbourhoods and is a brand new vision. It has formed part of our gateway for culture. The store probably would have been demolished, but we are seeing it as an opportunity. It will not be quite a museum but something for our new communities to connect with.'

The question was posed to Andy that as the city centre develops will people begin to desert it for housing on the outside, making way for 'posh boy' flats?

'We want our future to be sustainable and provide more living in the centre. We are creating a modern leisure and entertainment offer for those living in the centre and homes provided by housing associations. There will be more community cohesion. I do not see people moving out and we have a growing student body, some sixty thousand students currently, so we are looking to bring housing and culture together in the centre.'

Above: the former IKEA building in Coventry transformed for the City Centre Cultural Gateway project (courtesy Buttress Architects)

Neil Kirby, Head of Growth, Southwark Council, also joined the conversation to talk about how culture is evolving in the borough and whether gentrification causes artists to priced out. He said:

'As a council we try to work with the market, but also to try and protect what's important. People come to Peckham or to Bankside because there's a bit of culture there, a bit of place. It's not about 'place making' in consultancy speak but it's because people can recognise culture in these places. How do you protect places, create affordable work space or even the ability to relocate Afro-Caribbean hairdressers? It's important that people pay their rent and don't just think 'it's council so it does not matter'. It does matter. People do want safer streets, a nice coffee shop, and a place that is attractive to outsiders so you need a balance on gentrification.

Above: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Peckham, London (courtesy Turner Works / LB Southwark)

Neil continued:

'We persuaded the Montview Academy of Theatre Arts to move to Peckham from Wood Green. It is one of the top theatre arts schools in the country with close connections with the West End. The move was a challenge to start with as Theatre Peckham was partly opposed. However, Mountview works very actively with local children and it has an open door policy so that those children may aspire to go there. It's rooted in the area. Staff and pupils spend money in the area. The building is not going anywhere!'

As part of Elephant and Castle’s £4bn transformation, Southwark Council has contributed £70.5 million for the new Tube station entrance and ticket hall. The new station entrance and ticket hall will open up into the heart of The Elephant, Get Living’s £1.5bn transformation of Elephant and Castle Town Centre.

Southwark Council says that launching in 2026, The Elephant will comprise 485 new homes, of which 172 will be affordable, as well as 55 new shops, restaurants and bars, offices, and a new 5 screen cinema. Alongside the new station entrance, a new University of the Arts London campus building has been delivered for the London College of Communication (LCC) which will open in 2027 and accommodate over 5,500 students and staff.  

A further proposed phase of the development, concerns the site of the existing London College of Communication, which will be transformed to provide 507 new residential homes, a 452-bed student accommodation and a world-class cultural venue within a repurposed part of the existing building providing flexible spaces for arts, performances, and community activities.

Above: view of the East Bank cultural and education institutions including Sadler's Wells, BBC Music, and the London College of Fashion at Stratford in east London, on the site of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (courtesy LDA Design)

How important is the role of public realm in cultural districts? The public realm around Sadler's Wells East has been designed to provide a variety of outdoor dance spaces, creating a common ground that brings people, culture and nature together, supporting Sadler’s Wells East’s ambition as a powerhouse for dance with global reach and local impact.

LDA Design joined the discussion at the Barbican to describe how biophilia is embedded into the project’s DNA, so that each space has a rich, natural sensory experience that promotes health, wellbeing. The firm says that to help with spatial coordination whilst in motion, dancers prefer all four walls of dance studios to have different finishes. Sadler’s Wells East Dance Studio 1 achieves this in spectacular style with one entire wall made of a beautiful roof terrace landscape visible through the studio’s full-length glazed façade. The landscape is also reflected in the studio’s full-length dance mirror on the opposite wall, giving the impression of dancers moving within a living landscape.

Director at LDA Design Scott Carroll was asked about the practice's approach to creating liveable spaces around arts venues. Scott described the work on public realm design at the East Bank in Stratford London:

'It was about making the places, the institutions, the experience as accessible as possible for as many people as possible - intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

'Looking at Sadler's Well's East, the dance company has been taking the hidden language of dance out into the community.

You can see the CEO of Sadlers Wells talking to local families at the Fly Kids Dance event. People can see a bit of their selves there. You might turn up later and see Birmingham Royal Ballet rehearsing. I don't know anywhere else that is as culturally transparent and relevant as this.

'You have to think about curation of the designed spaces right from the outset, about how it will be looked after. Think about all the components, how long will it last, it's a tough place as it gets a hammering. We need to keep it beautiful. Time is a component. People need to support it.

'We thought about inclusive design right from the start for the public realm, and this includes for dementia.. There is a six metre change of level across the site but we have used this create a cascade of terraces. There is a dog spending area for people with assistance dogs. These little details can really help people's enjoyment.'

Above: planting at the new terraces outside Sadler's Wells East at Stratford (LDA Design)

Above: Soho Theatre Walthamstow (courtesy Pilbrow & Partners)

Following on from Scott Carroll's comments on place, the former EMD Cinema in Walthamstow, east London, sits within the longest street market in Europe and there has been great thought put into the arrival of this restoration project.

Pilbrow and Partners reports:

'Soho Theatre Walthamstow represents the renewal of the former Granada, a Grade II* listed interwar cinema into a vibrant cultural hub for the community. By adapting the cinema’s large auditorium into a more intimate 1,000 capacity venue, with curved stall seating, our design enhances sightlines, and the audience connection with actors onstage, while preserving and restoring the venue’s much-loved heritage interiors.

'Externally, the original high street frontage, including the building’s Spanish baroque gable and ornate first-storey windows has been reinstated. Inside, a new fly tower supports a larger stage and new dedicated backstage area, while a new street entrance creates greater flexibility, enabling the venue to stage a wider range of productions. The design also allows for a new and enlarged foyer and the addition of community spaces to support a range of cultural and educational activity.

Pilbrow & Partners' Gareth Wilkins, who joined the panel discussion, described the journey to transform the Granada Cinema. He was asked whether the venue is working - he responded:

'It's now open. It is a super-cinema from the 1930s (designed with exteriors by Cecil Masey and interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky). Soho Theatre took it on. It was a ten year project with five years to get planning to transform the Grade II* building and five years to complete construction and it was meant to be a retrofit first building. It has been converted to create a series of spaces for Soho Theatre. Local people can come on five pound tickets so great for engage with culture. Soho Theatre also goes out to all neighbourhood schools, the out-reach programme is very important. It is a local theatre with a national profile.

'It provides performance space for comedians who start in Dean Street Soho at the 350 seat scale and it then allows them to platform in bigger spaces at the EMD as previously there have been few in-between spaces to perform before being on stage at a massive venue such as Hammersmith. Outreach is very much international and there are connections with cities like Bombay / Mumbai. I grew up here so I am very much embedded. The cinema was in fact built in two years and Komisarjevsky based the interior on the Alhambra Palace in Spain and it cost a lot to renovate. This place is an identity for Walthamstow.

'The whole sequence is important including arriving outside at the top of longest street market in Europe. You then move through a sequence of rooms before reaching the main cinema, and it has great character. There is a cluster of workshops to the rear for filming, recording and making sets. It has created a new community cluster.'

Future Cities Forum was very grateful to all our contributors for their expertise and views in this important cultural discussion.

Above: interior restored and transformed - Soho Theatre Walthamstow (Courtesy Pilbrow & Partners)