The Prince of Wales this week visited the scene of one of SAVE Britain’s Heritage’s greatest battles – the General Market and the Fish Market in Smithfield, where he had the opportunity to view Burrell Foley Fischer’s campaign drawings. The Smithfield Conservation Area had been extended to protect these impressive Victorian iron and glass market halls, but they were not listed and two major attempts at demolition were fought off by SAVE at successive public inquiries in 2008 and 2014.
SAVE’s Marcus Binney shows The Prince images of SAVE's 2014 alternative vision for Smithfield General Market (MoL)
John Burrell first looked at the project with SAVE in 2012. He immediately realised that it was not just the street facades that were important but also the magnificent formal roof structure covering the interior market spaces, and the spatial and development potential of the vast basements that originally linked Farringdon and Barbican stations which are hidden from view.
BFF’s drawings showed that was not necessary to demolish the above ground structures in a futile attempt to make a 'conventional' development site because the real value, interest and 'cache' was embodied in the existing buildings, their street connections and the huge relatively uncontentious potential and value of below ground spaces, especially with the new Crossrail platforms soon to be close by.
Cutaway image showing how the General Market could be retained and converted in SAVE’s 2014 alternative vision by architect John Burrell of Burrell Foley Fischer (SBH)
The campaigning document produced for SAVE by BFF showed how the street spaces around the market could become the focus of a major new urban space in London affirming the identity of the Smithfield quarter and its street life that was already underway. John presented this evidence to the Public Inquiry.
It is currently being restored as a public building, the New Museum of London.
View looking up to the central dome of the General Market which is set to be restored as a centre piece for the new Museum of London (MoL)