Old Street Iconic Gateway

'Open Call for Design Ideas’ for the Old Street Iconic Gateway

In December 2017, Islington Council, together with the Mayor of London, Transport for London (TfL) and Hackney Council, issued an ‘Open Call for Design Ideas’ to create an iconic gateway at Old Street. The purpose of this open call was to seek creative and innovative design ideas from a range of disciplines and partnerships, including design, architecture, art, planning and technology in the redesign of this space.

For more information on the ‘Open Call for Design Ideas’, please see the brief at the bottom of the page.

Public exhibition and announcement

The ‘best design ideas’ from the Old Street Iconic Gateway public exhibition were announced on 21 March 2018.

The four best design ideas chosen were:

‘The Iris’ by EPR Architects (with Martin Richman, Wayfindr, Modus Operandi, Gillespies, Entuitive, Materials Council, Stage One)
‘Old Street Park’ by Nicholas Hare Architects (with Price Myers, Hoare Lea, FIRA)
‘Old Street Digital Garden’ by Gpad London Ltd (with Eyekon)
‘Old Street Circus 2050’ by Dar Group (led by Dar Landscape and Urban Design Team, with Perkins+Will, Portland Design, Elementa Consulting, Currie & Brown, Maffeis Engineering).

A public exhibition held on the doorstep of Old Street roundabout showcased 39 longlisted entries, between 12 February and 2 March 2018. The public were invited to have their say by visiting the exhibition and/or viewing the entries online, and giving their feedback via an online survey. The public feedback received was used to inform the judging panel’s decision.

The judging panel featured:

Allison Dutoit – Gehl Architects, set up by Jan Gehl, whose primary focus is creating cities and places for people

Gerard Grech – CEO of Tech City UK, a semi-public body supporting the development of the east London start-up cluster known as London Tech City or Silicon Roundabout

James Dellow – Youth and Innovation Manager at Soapbox, a brand new high-quality digital, media and technology local youth club

Cllr Claudia Webbe – Islington Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Transport, and Bunhill Ward Member

Cllr Feryal Demirci – Hackney Councillor and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Transport & Parks

Will Norman – London's Walking and Cycling Commissioner

See further details on the announcement.

‘Open Call for Design Ideas’ for the Old Street Iconic Gateway

For more information on the ‘Open Call for Design Ideas’, please see the brief at the bottom of the page.

Background

The Old Street Roundabout will undergo significant change in the coming years as part of the planned highway transformation that will see the removal of the one-way system, and two-way traffic reintroduced. As a result of the works, the north-western arm of the roundabout will be closed to traffic and a peninsula will be created around an upgraded Old Street station entrance.

The existing roundabout, developed in the 1960s, will be converted into an attractive new pedestrianised public space. The highway transformation will result in fully segregated cycle lanes and crossings, as well as improved safety and amenity for pedestrians, public transport users, cyclists and people who live and work nearby.

For further information on the wider highway transformation scheme, see TfL’s webpage and Islington Council's webpage.

Next steps

A separate, formal tender process will take place next to develop feasible, affordable designs for the ‘iconic gateway’ to complement the wider highway transformation works. The formal tender process will be separate to the open call for design ideas, but will be informed by the open call process.

Extensive community engagement will follow once a single design option is developed.