Celebrating the opening of Barking’s Curfew Tower

A sunlit plaza lies in front of the Curfew Tower on Abbey Green, a place where historical narratives are experienced through the modern built environment. This May, the people of Barking received an improved public realm scheme that speaks of the area’s heritage and yet, gives a promise of daily enjoyment of its present and future.

Working at the origins of the project alongside Be First, the regeneration company of London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, together with Focus Consultants and Historic England, Node contributed to the project’s conceptual development and technical delivery, setting out key design principles of setting, legibility and place, interpretation, and accessibility.

Located in Abbey and Barking Town Centre Conservation Area, the site was facing challenges from rapid large-scale development within its setting. During the site appraisal, many physical and visual barriers were identified for pedestrians and vehicles accessing St Margaret’s Parish Church and Barking Abbey ruins, including trees, furniture, and paving materials.

The solution to the design lay in the spatial arrangement of the Tower’s frontage as of the 15^th century and what once was a street named as Church Path which led directly to the Tower gate, with built form framing the approach. A linear framework taken from the building footprint and approximate demarcation of the historic ‘Church Path’ Street with a bronze model of the Abbey displayed within this axis, resulted in the design of a delicate intervention that simplifies and de-clutters the public space, giving visual prominence to the building façade.

The completed landscape design also features the following elements:

• Framed views to the tower with new tree and ground cover planting on either side, offering seasonal colour interest.
• Clear demarcation of pedestrian movement and dwell spaces using kerbs, material changes, and bollards for pedestrian safety.
• Re-use of existing surface materials such as stone setts and York stone flags to retain heritage atmosphere of the setting.
• Lighting strategy that ensures the area is safe and accessible by incorporating Secure by Design principles.

Node was proud to join the ceremony on the 25^th of May where Cllr Darren Rodwell, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council and David Harley, Interim Director of Development at Be First Regeneration, formally opened the scheme, and everyone who contributed to the project delivery had a chance to celebrate and share views about it.

Few things delighted us that day as much as the reason for the gathering: a hugely rewarding feeling to see the space being shaped by experiences – from people sitting on the benches in groups or on their own or moving within the space, to a child happily playing around the bronze model of Complete Abbey. The planting looked healthy and was serving its purpose of softening the edges of the hard landscape yet firmly defining them. Each of these experiences were intended to be incorporated into the project’s identity code, and we hope that over the years, the place will continue speaking of significant historical importance of Barking Abbey and its Curfew Tower through interaction with people who choose to belong to it.

Unveiling photograph courtesy of Be First (photographer J Lee)