Barking Town Square, designed by muf architecture/art has been declared winner of the 5th European Prize for Urban Public Space, making it the first project in Britain to receive the prestigious prize.
The European Prize for Urban Public Space is a biennial prize awarded to projects which
foster the process of recovering the public dimension of urban spaces in Europe, as well as
their capacity for social inclusion and democracy-building in our cities. Barking Town Square
was selected by the prize’s jury from 176 entries from locations in 26 European countries.
The jury applauded the creative collaboration between muf architecture/art, London
Borough of Barking & Dagenham, Redrow Regeneration and Allford Hall Monaghan and Morris,
commending muf’s scheme for incorporating multiple architectural languages to enhance the
new development, creating a place of distinctive character.
Councillor Sid Kallar MBE, executive member for regeneration, said:
“I am absolutely delighted by this award as it places Barking and Dagenham firmly on the
international map. The development of Barking Town Square has been an integral part of
the regeneration of the borough as a whole, and it is extremely gratifying that our efforts,
and those of muf architecture/art, have been acknowledged in this way.”
Liza Fior, muf architecture/art said:
"We are delighted that Barking Town Square has been awarded this accolade. The ambition
is to mix mystery and utility. We are now half way through the project and the close
working and collaboration continues”.
Barking Town Square, one of Design for London’s 100 Public Spaces, is a truly civic and
mixed ensemble of buildings and uses, a place where a town hall, a library, a University of
East London presence, the one stop shop, a child and primary health centre, a major public
art commission, approximately 500 new homes, retail and cafes. All of these facilities come
together around a 6000 sqm ‘T’ shaped square which comprises four interlocking elements;
a civic square, an arboretum, a folly wall and an arcade.
The Town Hall Square is the centre-piece of the scheme. It is furnished with pale pinkstretch benches each 6 metres long on a floor of pink Spanish Granite, providing a civic
space where new and existing communities can meet.
The folly wall encloses the square by introducing a fourth elevation onto the square,completing the urban composition of Town Hall and new library and learning building. It
recovers the texture of the lost historic fabric of the town centre. Ffeaturing 19th Century
architectural salvage built by master bricklayers and apprentices of Barking College and
planted with indigenous species it stands as a memento-mori to this current cycle of
regeneration.
The Arcade runs beneath the new library and housing development on the East of thesquare, providing access to a café on the ground floor. It is paved in black and white tiles
that refer to both grandeur of arcades and the paths of the London’s Edwardian villas and
illuminated by dramatic ‘diamond light’ chandeliers.
The next phase of the project consists of an extensive arboretum adjacent to the Arcade,which will be planted in July 2008 and opened to the public in the Autumn. The arboretum
will comprise 40 mature trees of 16 different species arranged to create settings of different
scales and character, which invite exploration, performance and play. Play will not be ring
fenced here but instead fostered through:
- the occasional miniaturization of street furniture
- hiding spaces
- artifice whereby cast tree branches and stacked tree trunks form balustrades and walls,
- literary reference and landscapes for role play
The arboretum will be illuminated by suspended chandeliers; the intensity of the light will
adjust with the seasons and respond to the changing colour of the leaves.
