BEHIND THE SCENES | Exchange Square

**This event is now SOLD OUT. A waiting list is in operation, feel free to register and you will be contacted should a space become available**

Join Deborah Saunt, Tom Greenall of DSDHA, and James Fox of FFLO to explore the City’s newest public park.

A major new public park for the City of London, Exchange Square has been reimagined by DSDHA as a bucolic landscape and generously planted green space. Suspended above the tracks of Liverpool Street Station, the 1.5-acre park will see a four-fold increase in the amount of planting across several levels to create a more varied topography for the site. The mixed-use public realm integrates work, leisure, and retail, providing a more inclusive environment for a greater diversity of people to enjoy and the informal open-air space is set amid a biodiverse planting scheme of 14,000 plants and 140 different species – a selection which ensures that seasonal varieties in bloom will provide an ever-changing sensory experience.

Exchange Square is the culmination of DSDHA’s Broadgate Public Realm Framework for British Land, which has demonstrated the crucial role the public realm can play in establishing a new identity for a site. Fundamental to its success is breaking down perceived barriers to surrounding areas of the City, and being more receptive to the needs of a wider variety of people. It encourages the use of these public spaces through new planting, seating, lighting, high-quality materials, and more opportunities for temporary uses and events. A comprehensive analysis of pedestrian movement helped to identify barriers to access – including steps, changes in level, poor signage, and lack of visual contrast and changes in tactility – to provide a space that is completely accessible to all.

Photo © Daniel Fischer

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