Goodman’s Fields

The original site was impermeable from the surrounding streets and the scheme has returned the space to the community, with new streets and public spaces integrated with the existing street pattern and accessible from all directions. Nature and biodiversity now run through this inner city scheme, from the ground plain to the rooftops.

Its uses are comprehensive.  The development provides 1,076 mixed-tenure homes, student accommodation providing 614-beds, a 250-bed Premier Inn and 121,902 sqft of diverse commercial and retail space, together with 2.3 acres of high-quality public realm.  Health and wellbeing is supported by two gyms, a chemist and NHS Health Centre.

The site is divided into four distinct segments, arranged around private landscaped courtyards. The buildings’ ground floors provide space for the wider community, with offices, shops, restaurants, bars and leisure facilities, including a Curzon cinema, which draw people to the area and strengthen the local economy through job creation and spending.  The large student population has its own state-of-the-art building with dedicated communal spaces and private gardens.

fabrik developed and oversaw the delivery of the detailed landscape proposals, which feature significant pieces of public art.  The public realm includes a network of pedestrian routes connecting to a series of pocket parks, comprising the main piazza, Four Seasons Garden and Chaucer Garden, bring much-needed additional green space to this city-centre location. These public spaces play host to a variety of events through-out the year and are valuable community assets, not for only those living and working within the development, but also those beyond its boundaries.

The main piazza offers plentiful seating, grassed areas and trees. Chaucer Gardens is designed to attract people of all ages and walks of life, while The Four Seasons Garden includes an aquatic element. Seasonal planting brings the new pedestrian routes to life as ‘green walkways’. To ensure the largest possible amount of public realm was created, car parking and servicing access is at basement level, with vents carefully disguised in attractive corten structures.  The Wildlife Sky Gardens feature 5,050 sqm of biodiverse habitats, not usually found on high-rise developments, including four bee hives with six frames of bees and pollinator-friendly foliage, boosting biodiversity for miles around. First and second floor podium courtyards provide tranquil communal gardens for residents to escape the hustle and bustle below.

Originally, the land comprised open farmland owned by the Minoresses of St Clare Convent. It was subsequently sold to Goodman, giving the area its name.  It continued to be farmed and was leased out for London’s livery horses.. Throughout the site’s history, horses have featured, which is why the scheme’s main plaza features six giant bronze sculptures of galloping horses hurtling in an arc through the piazza’s shallow pools towards Leman Street, where the lead stallion rears up dramatically – eyeballing commuters on every passing double-decker bus and bringing alive the history of the site. Commissioned from renowned sculptor Hamish Mackie, they create a striking focal piece and strong visual identity.  Water is integrated throughout the scheme from reflective pools, to fountains and water walls. Likewise corten, bronze tubing and dry-stone walling feature prominently.