5. The Barbican

Our tour of this vast masterplan of buildings focused on the external network of spaces that create the Barbican Centre and Housing Estate. Construction started in the 1970s and the buildings in British Brutalist style were designed by Architects Chamberlain, Powell and Bon.

Our tour began in the housing estate where without a guide we would certainly be lost. Beautifully brick paved streets curve around the heavy concrete sky walkways to aid the visitor in their wayfinding. The guide points out the semi-circle motif that playfully appears in many moments across the Barbican complex – as windows, as vaults, as paving patterns – see if you can spot them on your next visit.

Concrete is the big player at the Barbican – hidden away in a services plant room we found panels of test insitu concrete, where different finishes were explored. The final decision was for all the cast insitu concrete to be hand post-drilled to give a heavy mottled texture – its a crude finish but boy does it dazzle like glistening diamonds in the sunlight.

The Barbican sits as a large chunk in the historical City of London – its towers loom over city workers, its edges sit strongly like the walls of a fortress – it is an important part of London’s urban fabric and any visitor to the city should definitely lose themselves within its network.