SAVE Britain’s Heritage has welcomed the spectacular new public piazza that has been created out of a notorious traffic and pollution hotspot in London’s West End. St Mary-le-Strand, the grade I-listed Baroque church which was for years marooned on a traffic island in the middle of the Strand, has been reconnected to the pedestrian realm, allowing people to enjoy strolling between it and Somerset House for the first time in decades.
The landscaped piazza – proposed by SAVE Britain’s Heritage working with Burrell Foley Fischer in 2015 – also creates an unrivalled opportunity to bring the historically important “little houses on the Strand” – which they saved – back into use, with plenty of space for cafe tables to spill into the new square.
Restored facades and al fresco dining: SAVE and John Burrell's 2015 vision for the Strand piazza and 'little houses'
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, says:
“This new piazza not only dramatically reduces the noise and pollution which has characterised this part of the Strand for so many decades, but it also showcases the beauty of St Mary’s and the Strand buildings to full effect. We look forward to King’s College seizing this opportunity and reopening the shop fronts of the Strand buildings – taking full advantage of the new public space on their doorstep."
SAVE fought a successful battle to protect this terrace of five Victorian and Georgian buildings from redevelopment in 2015. Demolition plans by King’s College unleashed a storm of public outrage and national press attention, leading to 10,000 signatures on their petition and the announcement of a public inquiry by the Secretary of State. As a result King’s withdrew their plans. Working with architect John Burrell, SAVE set out a positive vision for transforming the area, key elements of which have now been realised.
Marcus Binney, executive president of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, describes it as
“the best and most enlightened example of good town planning since the creation of Covent Garden Piazza in the 1970s. As a result two of London’s finest 18th-century buildings, Somerset House and St Mary-le-Strand, now look as good as their counterparts in Rome and Paris.”
The transformation allows some of London’s finest Georgian buildings to be fully enjoyed for the first time in more than a generation. An area that was once part of a multi-lane gyratory, characterised by traffic fumes and pedestrians hurrying along narrow pavements, is now an attractive destination for meeting, strolling and lingering over a coffee or al fresco meal.
John Burrell, principal at BFF Architects and Urban Designers, says:
“I’m so pleased that the ideas I produced working with SAVE way back in 2015 have been realised. We proposed both the restoration of the historic facades to save them from demolition and the enhancement of the ‘grey land’ around King’s College to make a new busy, active, public space – linking King’s, St Mary-le-Strand, the Courtauld and Somerset House. At that time the Strand was one of the most highly polluted traffic spots in London. Thankfully that dubious honour has now been consigned to history.”
The east end of the church has become a pocket park [Credit: Photographer Agnese Sanvito and SAVE Britain's Heritage]
Canon Peter Babington, priest-in-charge at St Mary-le-Strand, said the new piazza has already prompted a significant increase in visitors to the church. He is hopeful of 50,000 visits a year, with a sound-and-light installation opening this month to celebrate the church’s history. Rev Babington said:
“Bus drivers used to call St Mary-le-Strand church ‘St Mary’s in the Way’. [Now it has…] become the centrepiece of a new piazza at the heart of London.”