public realm/landscape
22 Gordon Street, The Bartlett School of Architecture, WC1H 0QB
what3words: safely.spicy.tops
Working with University College London and Camden Council, LDA Design, Norman Rourke Pryme and Darryl Moore have transformed Gordon Street, on the north side of Gordon Square in Bloomsbury to create a new 'college campus' for students, staff and the wider community. This has repurposed a road to create valuable new city green space. Find out what they did and how.
Euston Square
Euston
18, 73
Quiet street in a central London university quarter. There is seating along Gordon Street that can be used, as needed.
Guided tour
13:00–14:00
Designer-led tour of Gordon Street, which has been transformed into a place to enjoy spending time rather than passing through.
How to book
Bookings will open at midday on 19 August. You won't be able to book a ticket before then.
Directly outside the UCL Institute of Archaeology, Gordon Street in Bloomsbury was once used as a logistics yard and then road. Now, a pilot project for University College London (UCL) and Camden Council has reduced the space given over to cars and turned the street into a lively meeting place, a new campus for students and staff and the wider community to enjoy, and a great space for UCL to celebrate its bicentenary this year.
There is a flexible space for events, picnic tables, parking for 40 bikes, social nooks, drops kerbs to provide all-inclusive access and a variety of seating. Planting in raised planters along the street includes 67 trees, 5,000 perennials, grasses and ferns (140 species), planted in low-nutrient sand and crushed gravel to explore and experiment with resilient plant communities in a changing climate.
Join LDA Design director Cannon Ivers, project lead for the award-winning Strand in Westminster, and garden and landscape designer, Daryl Moore, to understand more about the changes made, what they mean for the community and the difference they are making.