Earlier this year the City of London Corporation successfully bid for funding to improve aspects of the public realm at the Golden Lane Estate. The City has commissioned Studio Partington to lead a design team addressing aspects of external signage and external lighting across the estate. The team includes architects, signage specialists, lighting designer, heritage experts, principle designer (cdm & building regulations), planning consultant and other specialist as might become necessary depending on final scope.
The work will start with a review of the existing lighting and signage to establish the historic significance of the signage and lighting. Once complete this will allow for a study of the effectiveness of the provision of both signage and lighting and from this the creation of a public realm framework. Within the framework a series of works packages will be defined and then carried out in order of priority as funding will allow.
There are a number of significant stakeholders to consider in this process including; residents, planners, Historic England, Conservation Area Committee, 20th Century Society, Police and City of London’s Access & Energy Teams. We will consult with all these organisation through out the process, this email is just by way of introduction and to collect any initial thoughts on scope or specific areas you may feel should be covered by the study. The works will be informed throughout by the Golden Lane Estate Listed Building Management Guidelines and other City of London policies.
FIRST STEPS
External Signage – Initial Review
Regarding the signage on the estate, there are distinctive original signs, such as the cast aluminium building signs and three-dimensional cast maps. With the help of a heritage experts the signs across the estate will be categorised into levels of historical heritage significance. In contrast to the original signage, there is now an over-provision of signage with a wide variety of ‘Private Estate’ signs and ‘no cycling, no skateboarding’ signs and their poor condition suggest that these have been installed in a rather ad-hoc way as problems have been raised. A more co-ordinated and consistent approach would reinforce the messages providing some consensus can be achieved.
External Lighting – Initial Review
There is innovative original lighting on the estate such as low-level lights on ramps and basement roads that were integrated with kerbs. Sadly, none of these are in current use. Most of the surface mounted lights are thought to be later additions or replacements or originals. A lighting designer will survey the luminance, quality and suitability of lighting around the estate to devise a strategy for replacement and upgrade. The strategy will form the basis of consultations considering important aspects such as security, ease of navigation, accessibility, maintenance and running costs, and impact on neighbouring homes. The work on signage and lighting will be informed by previous reports by GLERA and reports on behaviour around the estate (CoL Police 2023).
In the first instance, we would welcome any initial thoughts on the approach and scope of the project and we will be in contact in the future as part of a more formal consultation once the initial reviews are complete and the team have started to formulate possible proposals for work.
The City have provided us with your documents: ‘GLE Open Spaces’ and ‘Golden Lane Estate Lighting Review’. Please see attached.
Please also see attached a Golden Lane Estate pamphlet that was used at a recent residents drop-in event which covers a number of other projects; signage, lighting, windows, and fire safety improvements at Great Arthur House.
Documents referenced in pamphlet:
