Following our successful restoration of Russell Square and as a follow-on project from the “Campaign for London Squares” document we prepared for English Heritage, LUC was delighted to work on two important 19th century garden squares within the University of London campus: Gordon Square and Woburn Square, in Bloomsbury, Central London.The Heritage Lottery Fund (Public Parks Initiative) granted £990,000 and additional funding was provided by English Heritage, The Wolfson Foundation, University of London, Colleges of the University and the Gordon Square Garden Committee, for LUC to restore the squares to the high standard our schemes are renowned for.Our scheme aimed to maintain the garden-like ambience of the squares, by repairing or replacing the significant landscape and architectural features and encouraging visitors to enjoy the gardens and understand their historical associations.The biodiversity of the squares has been increased and diversified with new planting and all the buildings were restored along with the paths and site furniture. Perhaps most importantly, the 1950s chain link fencing was replaced with vertical bar railings to once again match those outside the surrounding 19th century houses, as the original 19th century railings were removed in WWII.We also restored the former gardeners store building in Gordon Square to its original form and converted it into a refreshment kiosk serving drinks and snacks with a seating area.Reopened in May 2007 by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Chancellor of the University of London, the two garden squares have been reunited with the surrounding Bloomsbury townscape and Conservation Area, and are for the first time now fully accessible to the general public, seven days a week. Previously they were private garden squares with limited public access.The introduction of public access to these squares has created a new traffic-free pedestrian route from Russell Square and the British Museum through to Euston and Kings Cross - a route which was previously only possible on pavement.
