Introduction
Momentum was commissioned as the transport consultant to assist in the delivery of the Museum of London’s relocation from its home at London Wall to the historic West Smithfield site. Momentum is supporting Stanton Williams Architects, Asif Khan, Julian Harrap Architects, J&L Gibbons and the design team on the project, from the early feasibility stages right through to construction.
Our work requires careful consideration of the servicing and logistical requirements of the Museum, in order to support the design and develop a strategy that accommodates the needs of a world class museum within the existing structures of an iconic building, whilst ensuring the Smithfield Market operations can continue to function.
The West Smithfield site is comprised of a number of buildings above and below ground, including the Smithfield General Market which presents a logistical challenge for vehicular access due to existing height restrictions. In addition, the General Market and Poultry Market basements are separated by the Thameslink railway tracks, which creates a unique challenge in limiting connections between the two sites.
The new Museum of London is expected to be the catalyst for renewal of the Smithfield area, as well as a connection between Farringdon and the future City of London Culture Mile. As a result of regeneration in the area and the introduction of Crossrail at Farringdon Station in 2018, the area will see a considerable uplift in the number of pedestrians.
A key part of Momentum’s scope involves understanding the future pedestrian movements surrounding the site, to ensure that the new Museum integrates into the built environment and that a successful, high quality public realm design can be developed and implemented.
Further to this work, we were separately commissioned by the City of London, working alongside Hawkins\Brown Architects to develop a public realm scheme for the entire Smithfield Market area predicated by not only the Museum, but also the relocation of the meat market away from Smithfield.
