| Barbican Estate | |
|---|---|
 Barbican Towers | |
 Interactive map of Barbican Estate | |
| General information | |
| Type | Mixed-use development |
| Architectural style | Brutalist |
| Location | London, England |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Chamberlin, Powell and Bon |
| Structural engineer | Ove Arup & Partners |
| Civil engineer | Ove Arup & Partners |
| Designations | Grade II listed |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
TheBarbican Estate, orBarbican, is a residential complex of around 2,000 flats,maisonettes and houses in centralLondon, England, within theCity of London. It is in an area once devastated byWorld War II bombings and densely populated by financial institutions, 1.4 miles (2.2 km) north east ofCharing Cross.[1] Originally built as rental housing for middle- and upper-middle-class professionals, it remains an upmarket residential estate. It contains, or is adjacent to, theBarbican Centre, theMuseum of London, theGuildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican public library, theCity of London School for Girls and aYMCA (now closed),[2] forming theBarbican Complex.
The Barbican Complex is a prominent example of Britishbrutalist architecture and isGrade II listed as a whole,[3] with the exception of the former Milton Court, which once contained a fire station, medical facilities and some flats but was demolished to allow the construction of a new apartment tower—namedThe Heron—which also provides additional facilities for theGuildhall School of Music and Drama.
The mainfort ofRoman London was built between 90 and 120 AD south-east of where theMuseum of London now stands at the corner ofLondon Wall andAldersgate Street.[4] Around 200 AD,walls were built around the city that incorporated the old fort, which became a grand entrance known asCripplegate.[5] The wordbarbican comes from the Low Latin wordBarbecana, which referred to a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defence of a city or castle or any tower situated over a gate or bridge that was used for defence purposes.[6] In this case there seems to have been a Romanspecula or watchtower[7] in front of the fort from numbers 33–35 onwards[7] on the north side of the street formerly called Barbican[8] (now the west end of Beech St), which was later incorporated into the fortifications north of the wall. The Normans called it theBasse-cour orBase Court,[9] synonymous with the modern word "bailey" and still applied to the outer courtyard ofHampton Court Palace.
The Base Court continued to serve a military function during the reign ofEdward I, butEdward III gave it toRobert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk,[8] who made it his London home. By the 16th century it had passed toCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Brandon married his wardCatherine Willoughby, daughter ofMaría de Salinas, who had been a confidante andlady-in-waiting ofCatherine of Aragon, and after his death the building was retained by theWilloughby family. The original Base Court seems to have been destroyed and the large building that replaced it was calledWilloughby House, a name revived for part of the modern development. The house was later owned by Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, and later named Bridgewater House after the title bestowed onJohn Egerton in 1617.[10]
The Barbican terrace blocks and residences, including the green garden in the centre, are laid on an area just outside the city fortifications, to the north west of the survivingLondon Wall and bastions. Most of the residences and the green square, as well as some of the area to the south, currently occupied by theMuseum of London, are on an area that was previously the cemetery serving the London Jewish community before their expulsion. Records of transactions of the time show that the cemetery had been expanded several times through the acquisition of property by the Jews between 1268 and 1290.The Jews were expelled from England in 1290, and on 12 July 1291 Edward I granted the site of the cemetery to Master William de Montford, who was Dean of St Paul's but seems to have held this land privately. Archaeological excavations were undertaken on part of the cemetery site prior to construction of the Barbican and the results of these investigations were published in Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England (JHSE) in 1961.[11]
DuringWorld War II the City suffered serious damage and loss of life. TheCripplegate ward was virtually demolished[12] and by 1951 the resident population of the City stood at 5,324, of whom 48 lived in Cripplegate.[13] Discussions began in 1952 about the future of the site, and the decision to build new residential properties was taken by theCourt of Common Council on 19 September 1957.[14]
To accommodate the estate, 500 metres (550 yards) of theMetropolitan line was realigned betweenBarbican andMoorgate stations between 1963 and 1965.[15][16][17]
The estate was built between 1965 and 1976, on a 35-acre (14 ha) site. The complex was designed by architectsChamberlin, Powell and Bon, whose first work was the ground-breakingGolden Lane Estate immediately north of the Barbican. Unlike its northern neighbour, however, the Barbican Estate was not social housing. Rather, it was designed and built for affluent City professionals and their families, with all flats let out at commercial rents by theCorporation of London.[18] To help let out the flats, brochures were produced advertising the Barbican Estate as containing the perfect residences for well-heeled professionals and international businesspeople.[19]
Indeed, in its early years, a substantial number of high-profile politicians, lawyers, judges and bankers made their home here (seefamous residents).
The Barbican was never 'council housing' in the conventional sense, since flats were targeted at professionals and let at 'market' rents, i.e. for similar prices to equivalent private homes in Central London. It was, however, owned and managed by the Corporation of the City of London, considered a local authority under theHousing Act 1980. This meant thatRight to Buy applied to it, and, as a result, almost all flats are now privately owned, although a few continue to be let out by the City of London at market (non-subsidised) rents.[20]
The first building on the 40-acre (16 ha) estate, Speed House, was officially opened in 1969, though extensive industrial disputes in the 1970s led to the last building, Shakespeare Tower, being completed only in 1976. It is now home to around 4,000 people living in 2,014flats.[14] The flats reflect the widespread use in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s of concrete as the visible face of the building. The complex is also characterised by its total separation of vehicles from pedestrians throughout the area ("slab urbanism"[21]). This is achieved through the use of 'highwalks'—walkways of varying width and shape, usually 1 to 3 storeys above the surrounding ground level. Most pedestrian circulation takes place on these highwalks whilst roads and car-parking spaces are relegated to the lower level.
TheMinister for the Arts,Tessa Blackstone, announced in September 2001 that the Barbican complex was to beGrade IIlisted. At this point there was a growing desire to start demolishing the brutalist 1960s and 1970s structures in British cities, with the flotation in the 1990s of the idea of an "x" listing for buildings to be demolished at the earliest opportunity. This was greeted with dismay by the various architects associations, and by theLabour-run authorities that had been primarily responsible for the building of many of the structures. To prevent any effort at beautifying British Cities, the then Minister for Arts, Tessa Blackstone, issued preservation listings en masse for unpopular brutalist structures. It has been designated a site of special architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion and the ambition of the project.[22] The complex is architecturally important as it is one of London's principal examples of concretebrutalist architecture and considered a landmark.
Various garden features punctuate the brutalist architecture, including a community-runwildlife garden.[23] The heating and cooling for the homes and buildings of the estate is provided from a centraldistrict heating system called " Citigen" which is more efficient and avoid the chimneys and outdoor equipment of a conventional system.[24]
The residential estate consists of four tower blocks, 14 terrace blocks, twomews andThe Postern,Wallside andMilton Court.[25]
These are grouped around a lake and green squares. The main buildings rise up to seven floors above a podium level, which links all the facilities in the Barbican, providing a pedestrian route above street level. Somemaisonettes are built into the podium structure. There is no vehicular access within the estate, but there are some car parks at its periphery. Public car parks are located within the Barbican Centre.
The terrace blocks are named:[25]
The estate also contains three ofLondon's tallest residential towers, at 42 storeys and 123 metres (404 ft) high. The top two or three floors of each block comprise three penthouse flats. The towers are:
Once the tallest residential towers in London, they were surpassed by thePan Peninsula development on theIsle of Dogs.
The Barbican Estate also contains theBarbican Centre (an arts, drama and business venue), the Barbican public library, theCity of London School for Girls, theMuseum of London, and theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. AYMCA building was constructed between 1965 and 1968[22] to link the Barbican andGolden Lane Estate; it is also listed. In 2015–16, the YMCA building was converted by Redrow Homes into a new residential block called Blake Tower with 74 flats run as part of the Barbican Estate.
The Barbican complex also is centered aroundSt Giles Cripplegate, which survived the bombings of World War 2. Remnants of theLondon Wall, built in Roman era can be seen from the balconies of apartments and in the park area.
The Barbican has had a number of well-known residents throughout its history, especially in the years immediately after it was completed, when it was considered one of the most prestigious residential developments in London. Notable residents have included:
 | This sectionmay containirrelevant references topopular culture. Please helpimprove it by removing such content and addingcitations toreliable,independent sources.(January 2021) |
The final scene of the 1983 vampire film,The Hunger, directed by Tony Scott and starringDavid Bowie,Catherine Deneuve andSusan Sarandon, was filmed in Cromwell Tower. The estate's Shakespeare Tower is featured in the 2000 filmGangster No. 1 as the home of the two main characters. This is an anachronism, as the film begins in 1968 and the tower was not constructed until 1976.[43] The Barbican towers can be seen in a sequence from the 1975 Disney filmOne of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing, an unintentional anachronism for a film set in the 1920s.[13] The Barbican was also used to represent theMI6 headquarters in the James Bond filmQuantum of Solace.[44] The estate appears inThe Fourth Protocol (1987).[45]
The estate's Lauderdale Tower is home to fictional character Alice Morgan, a psychopathic murderer, in the BBC seriesLuther. Morgan lives in a sparsely furnished minimalist apartment on one of the tower's upper floors. The estate is featured in several scenes of the Apple TV showSlow Horses. The show is focused on a group of MI5 agents working in Slough House based at 126Aldersgate Street, which is opposite the Barbican Estate.[citation needed]
In the 2024 American TV seriesThe Agency,Michael Fassbender's character, a CIA operative known only by his codename, Martian, lives in Lauderdale Tower. The estate is featured in several scenes of the Star Wars TV showAndor.[46] The brutalist complex was used as the backdrop for the fictional city world ofCoruscant.
The Barbican features inMichael Paraskos's novelIn Search of Sixpence as the home of the lead character, Geroud, and also a bar called "The Gin Bar" loosely based on the Gin Joint bar at the Barbican Centre.[47]Clive James's 1987 novelThe Remake also used the Barbican as a major setting. The titular skyscraper inJ. G. Ballard's novelHigh Rise (and subsequentfilm) is largely inspired by the Barbican Estate's towers.[48]
A promotional video for "Concrete and Clay", a single recorded by British pop bandUnit 4 + 2, was filmed in 1965 on the construction site of the Barbican Estate. The film offers of a view of the immediate and surrounding areas of the complex prior to its completion.[49] Various shots of the Barbican towers are shown on the inner record cover of the 1979 albumReal to Real Cacophony by the Scottish rock bandSimple Minds.[citation needed] The Barbican Estate is mentioned by name in the intro to British bandSaint Etienne's song "Language Lab", from their 2002Finisterre album.[50] The estate is prominently featured inSkepta's "Shutdown"[51] andHarry Styles' "As It Was" music videos.[52]
| Service | Station/Stop | Line/Route |
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National Rail | Liverpool Street | |
| Farringdon | ||
| Moorgate | ||
London Underground | Liverpool Street |      |
| Barbican | | |
| Moorgate |  | |
| St Paul's | | |
| Farringdon | |
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51°31′09″N0°05′38″W / 51.51917°N 0.09389°W /51.51917; -0.09389
