London Bridge Station - Secret Tour

Join for an exclusive secret station tour before the grand opening of London Bridge station led by one of the project managers. This is a unique opportunity to see Europe’s largest concourse before it opens to the public in 2018. Works are still taking place, as the project is approaching its final stages and everything is starting to take shape. A must-go event for anyone who has an interest in out of the ordinary engineering combined with heritage - what better way to spend your lunch break?

Meet Graham by the Station Reception, located on St Thomas Street (on the right from Nero Cafe).

London Bridge is a place of history and modernity, with ongoing change happening, particularly as the new station reaches its final stages and new sites come up for development. Team London Bridge represents over 350 businesses in the area and has put Placeshaping at the heart of its vision for the area. As part of the LFA, throughout June we will deliver a range of events, talks and walks with our local stakeholders to explore and take forward themes and projects in the area. In particular, this includes activating the Thames riverfront, reducing traffic to create healthy vibrant streets, creating the Low Line by transforming railway arches and public realm, and creating a local list of placemarks to complement the new Southwark Local Plan.

You can see all events led by Team London Bridge as part of London Festival of Architecture 2017 here.

London Festival of Architecture has announced that the theme of the 2017 festival will be ‘memory’. The theme of will be explored through a wide range of events and activities when the London Festival of Architecture – Europe’s biggest annual architecture festival – returns on 1-30 June 2017.

London is a city of myriad layers, each infused with memory: of people, buildings, places and experiences. London’s built environment, with memories bound up within it, is fundamental to how people experience the city, and the starting point from which architects, developers and communities can address change.

London’s built memories are never far from its present – living on in old place names, the City of London’s medieval street pattern, or London’s rich architectural heritage. Memory is fundamental to a sense of place: something that communities cherish in the face of change, and a tool for architects and developers as they achieve change and place further layers of activity and memory on top of all the others.

Recent and future development at King’s Cross, Nine Elms and Smithfield Market are reminders of how memory is inextricably linked to character and placemaking. They show how architects, planners and developers need to proceed with care: aware that carelessness can obliterate cherished memories of London’s places, and alert to opportunities to harness memory in positive ways.

More info here: http://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/