Thursday 30 April 2015

LFS: Proposed new air vents

There is brick structure on the south western part of Breton Highwalk (just to the north of Ben Jonson House and overlooking Golden Lane).  This currently just has 4 blank brick faces.  The LFS plan to use this structure to house plant and to replace pretty much the whole of the western face of the structure with large air vents which will be used to blow air out from the school.

The text in the second image from the plans says: "Attenuated louvres pointing away from Breton House and as far along wall away from Ben Jonson as possible".


As it is now
As proposed





Wednesday 29 April 2015

Nanny Stay and Play

I'm not sure how many nannies we have in Ben Jonson House:


Help Wanted

Dear reader,

There are some small but significant ways in which you could help your house group, and which might even be a bit of fun.

Lift Notice Board Monitor:
We have nice notice holders in the lifts, but they are under-used.  If you primarily live in Ben Jonson House and have access to this blog and have a printer it would be really helpful if you could print and post notices from this blog in the lift from time to time.  The house group may occasionally ask for specific items to be posted, but generally editorial control would be yours!

Arts Centre Representative:
There are quarterly meetings held by arts centre and often chaired by Sir Nick Kenyon.  House group representatives are invited, but we don't have anyone to represent Ben Jonson House at the moment.  The effort involved would be in attending the meetings and representing the house, and writing a couple of paragraph summary of each meeting for this blog.

Barbican Association Representative:
The Barbican Association is the peak residents association within the Barbican.  Each house can send a representative along to the bi-monthly meetings.  There is quite lively discussion of the many issues currently affecting the estate as a whole.   As representative you would speak up for Ben Jonson House and write a brief summary of key items for this blog.

LFS Planning and Construction Representative:
The London Film School will be building a new home for themselves right under Breton and Ben Jonson houses.  There will no doubt be meetings with planning people, environmental health people, builders, other residents etc.  It would be brilliant if a resident who is around during the days could take on this role, again, representing the house and reporting anything interesting.

... and if there is anything you think the house group should be involved with that you'd be interested in being the lead (Cote & Cinema relations, gardens ... etc.) please do suggest it.

Lastly, if you have an interest in being on the committee, please do let me know.  The house group committee meetings have been bi-monthly in the past, and we somehow always manage to have a bottle of wine to hand to help the discussion flow.

Please let me know via the message form below if you're interested.

Thanks!

Tuesday 28 April 2015

LFS plans for deliveries to sound stages

There are currently 55 documents for planning application 15/00203/FULL. In the document 15_00203_FULL-DESIGN_AND_ACCESS_STATEMENT_PART_5-293989 there is information about how deliveries will be made to the sound stages.  Go to page 9 of the PDF which is numbered page 45 on the document page, the next few pages describe how goods (sets, equipment etc) will be moved to and from the sound two sound stages.

I'm told by people who have read the documents in some detail that sound stages will be quite heavily used, with loading bays in action from early morning into the evening and over weekends too.

Here are a couple of pictures from the document:



If you wish to send in comments to the planning committee remember that you should a) call your comment an "objection", and b) explain how the proposals might detract from the quiet enjoyment of your home.  The committee look for situations where there is a "loss of amenity".

Don't rely on the house group or other residents to contact the committee.  Numbers count, and the house group would only count as one.  Send in your own comments to Jeff Sadler by 14th May.  

Dementia Awareness Day - 18th May

From the BEO
____

Dear Residents

Please find attached, details of the Dementia Awareness Day on Monday 18 May at Artizan Street Library.  Everyone welcome.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office 

Click to enlarge

Young at Heart Events

From the City
____

Dear Young at Heart Members,

I hope you are well!

Please see below for reminders about 2 events coming up.

Walk for Health
Thursday 30th April 2015
Shakespeare Pub to Clerkenwell to Shakespeare Pub
2pm-4pm

Trip to THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE (LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE!!!)
"THROUGH THE STAGE DOOR"
A tragical comical-magical historie of the oldest operating playhouse in the World
We only have 20 tickets for this tour and it is scheduled for Tuesday 5th May 2015 at 2:15pm
Cost of £8.50 per ticket (on a first come first served basis)

If you haven't paid, please drop the money into Golden Lane Sport & Fitness to confirm your place.

Regards

Leonie Wade
Sports Development Officer
City of London


Golden Lane Sport & Fitness
Fann Street
London, EC1Y 0SH

Twitter: @GoldenLaneSport


Saturday 25 April 2015

6th or 8th May: LFS investigation works

There will be some noisy investigation works for the London Film School construction project on the morning of either the 6th or 8th May.

Here is the notice from the BEO:

click here to read the notice

Thursday 23 April 2015

LFS Planning Notice

Here is the notice sent out by the City notifying us of the publication of the planning application for the London Film School.

Notice that the letter is dated 16th April, and this date is taken as the start of the notice period of 21 days.  This notice was received several days after the 16th so the 14th May deadline means we have rather less notice than we should have had.

Click here to read the notice

Wednesday 22 April 2015

A CCTV Experience

A resident sent me the following story about their experience with CCTV.  Interesting things in this story are the resolution of the cameras, who has access to the cameras and how the use of the cameras is logged (or not).
____

... one day I spotted that the CCTV camera in the street outside was pointing into our building. I queried this with the police and was advised that it was pointed towards one of the televisions that were hanging from our ceiling. The television was a good 50 ft into the building.

I visited Wood Street police station to talk to the CCTV specialist. He advised that, because of the number of agencies that could access the CCTV system, he could not tell me who had re-positioned the camera, when they had repositioned it and what they had seen.

I was given the opportunity to see the view from the cameras. It was possible to read writing on a computer screen 10 ft inside the building.

The consultation document advises that “The technology allows a ‘Privacy Mask’ to be applied to cover an area that impinges on any part of residents premises. The Privacy Mask will be part of any recorded images and no images from behind the privacy mask will be recorded.”. Having received my complaint, the police instigated what I think is the proposed privacy mask and I was given the opportunity to view this. The mask meant that an area of the screen was blacked out and the operator could not linger where the mask was set – the camera automatically moved away from the area. However, to enable the police to be able to see activity at street level (my office was on the first floor), not all the office could be included in the privacy mask.

The consultation advises that those in the City Corporation with access to the CCTV system includes: the City Transportation team in the Department of Built Environment, the Parking Enforcement Team and the Street Environment team. “In addition to this, CCTV may be accessed/ used for the security monitoring of major planned events taking place within the City and may be used in the event of an emergency/ major incident”. I think that too many people will have access to the images and, based on my experience, I do not believe that the proposed controls around the use of cameras is sufficient.

Tuesday 21 April 2015

11th May: House Group Meeting - LFS (and flash AGM)

The LFS planning application has been published and comments ('objections') must be in by Thursday 14th May.

There will be a house group residents meeting on Monday 11th May at 19:00 (location TBA) where the planning application will be discussed.    This date is in the house group calendar (shown on the right on the blog web page).

The house group will take the opportunity to hold a flash-AGM as soon as enough people are present.  The flash AGM will take about 10 minutes and will cover the essential parts of the AGM that we could not do at the non-AGM meeting because we were not quorate (we were 4 people short of the required number).

CCTV for the Barbican

Sent on behalf of the chairs of the Barbican Association and the Residents' Consultation Committee
____

The City of London is considering installing CCTV in the area of the Barbican. The City has asked for comments from the Residents' Consultation Committee at its meeting on the 18th May. As we know this is something that many residents will have views about, we would like to know what views people hold, so we can make appropriate recommendations to the City. 

Attached you will find some briefing notes we have prepared on the background to this proposal, how it is to be funded, and the proposed locations for the CCTV cameras and some key questions and answers.

Please review the attached information before you complete our short consultation survey, so that you understand what is being proposed. 

To access the survey please follow this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/N97JFT7
We will treat your response in confidence – we will not pass on names or any other information that could identify any individual.
We have also made printed copies of the briefing notes and consultation form available via the Estate Concierges for any residents who cannot access the Internet. 

Don't delay if you wish to respond! The deadline for responses is Thursday 30 April, which we cannot extend because we need to report the results to members of the RCC the following week. The deadline for responses on paper is Tuesday 28 April, due to the extra time required to process written responses.

We regret we cannot accept responses to this consultation by email. Please use the online or paper form to respond to this consultation.

Thank you in advance for sharing your opinions with us.

Tim Macer, RCC Chairman
Jane Smith, BA Chair

Monday 20 April 2015

Q: Where are the Crossrail TBMs? A: Under the BA's AGM

From the Barbican Association
____
Don't forget it's the Barbican Association's AGM on Tuesday (21 April, 7.30 pm, Girls' School). Do come! (If you are not a member you can join on the door.)

We have a talk about education in the City and an update on what the Association has been doing on your behalf.

And, just possibly, you may get to hear the Crossrail tunnel boring machine….

(According to Crossrail's latest update, Elizabeth, the Eastbound tunnel boring machine (TBM), was just to the west side of Willoughby House last Thursday and due to be at the Arts Centre's concert hall this coming Thursday. Victoria, the other TBM should be under Moor Lane by the middle of this week.)

Film School (LFS) Planning Application

The following message is from the Barbican Association planning committee chair letting us know about the publication of the Film School planning application.  A subset of the planning application documents are available here on Google Drive.  The full set of documents are available via the link below.

The house group will hold a meeting for residents in the early part of the week of Thursday 14th to discuss the plans while still leaving time for people to submit comments (remember that you have to call your comments "objections" in order for them to count in the planning process).

~~~~



The LFS planning application is now public. It's 15/00203/FULL, the planning officer is Jeff Sadler and the deadline for comments is Thursday 14 May.

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/environment-and-planning/planning/planning-applications/view-planning-applications/Pages/default.aspx

Best regards,

Garth

p.s. A brief extract (part 5, pp 12-13). We should think what to press for in the management plan, including on hours for public access and for deliveries.

2.9 Neighbourly considerations

Noise and vibration

The proposed works include areas of demolition and removal of reinforced concrete slabs, plus noise and vibration from general building works. These are clearly major issues for the residents and other stakeholders including the adjacent school, cinema and restaurant. At this stage, it is difficult, if not impossible to predict the effect of vibration through the structure associated with whatever demolition method is ultimately chosen.

To date we have been liaising with the Pollution Team from Environmental Health, at the City of London, and commenced some initial discussions with the stakeholders. We have also contacted the project manager for the Barbican cinemas project.

We are aware of the following issues:
• Construction deliveries to be managed around Richard Cloudsley school bus drop off and collections
• City of London’s deconstruction code requirements for demolition
• Need to have appropriate specialist contractor advice
• Issues with hand tools and not being classified as noisy works
• Potential for noise monitoring
• Hours of noisy works

Construction works are not programmed to commence until spring/summer 2016 so we believe there is time to consult with the relevant parties and the Barbican Association.

Structural works in relation to residential accommodation above

The main structural works involve removing areas of first floor slab under the external podium in order to form double storey height spaces. The works entail removing areas of concrete floor slab at first floor and the alterations will reduce the overall weight on the foundations.

The proposals avoid any structural intervention at basement level and so the structural load paths have been designed to ensure that the existing load paths are maintained and that there are no significant additional loads at basement level.

The proposed main structural works are all under the external podium level and not under Breton House terrace above and this has been a key driver of the design process. None of the main structural alterations are directly under residential accommodation.

The design has been driven by the desire to minimise the structural intervention and in view of the above points there are no proposals to survey and monitor Breton House.

Hours of use, access, deliveries

A management plan will be developed in due course by the LFS and discussed and agreed with the landlord and the Barbican Association prior to occupation.

The hours of use identified within the planning application forms cover the overall requirements for day-to-day, as well as evening events. The regime and hours for deliveries, refuse collection, loading and unloading of equipment will need to be agreed as part of the management plan.

Mitigating against light spillage / light pollution

A desk top study has been carried out on the potential for light spillage from the first floor open administration office onto Golden Lane. This is overlooked in particular by some of the Ben Jonson flats that bridge over Golden Lane.

These offices will generally be occupied during normal office hours. The foyer and cafe at the ground floor are considered less of a concern as the entrance area is set back under an undercroft and the ground level glazing looks out under the underpass tunnel area at the junction of Golden Lane and Beech street.

The design of the lighting will need to comply with the requirements of BSEN 12464 and CIBSE LG7. At the next design stage, the number of luminaires will be minimised and the distance of them away from the window wall maximised. The fittings will be carefully selected to minimise light spillage.

An option being considered is to also reduce the general lighting illumination level within the offices to approximately 200lux, for safe circulation purposes and to create a glow rather than a bright light. To supplement this lower general lighting level local lighting would be required to get the required task level illumination within the areas.

An option that the Barbican Association asked to be considered were deeper fins to the glazing but we believe that reducing the potential for light spillage rather than introducing fins to be a better approach. The fins would also need to be very deep to be effective.

Post Parkour

Ben Jonson Place seems to be a popular spot for parkour practitioners.  Last weekend 14 people were seen just to the west of the yellow shed, jumping around on the hard surfaces and also on the benches and gardens.

The police were called, but appeared to take no action other that having a word with the parkour folk, who continued to jump on the benches and gardens while the police looked on.  It seems that there was nothing for the police to act upon in this case.

A resident later reported that the benches have been damaged as a direct result of parkour activities, and also that the large signage cube has been pushed closer to the benches, apparently to make it easier to jump to/from.

This matter is being raised with various committees and groups of the estate and the City.  If you have anything you'd like to add please write to the BEO or add a comment to this post.

Detritus from a previous parkour gathering

Sunday 19 April 2015

A prognosis for our swirls

Christopher Bate of the BEO writes in response to the question about our swirls:
____

Once the central area of Beech Gardens (shown in attached photo from top of Shakespeare Tower) is opened up again, it will be possible to appreciate the swirling pattern of the tiles which follow the line of the raised beds, fountain etc. Where the swirls are complementary to the aesthetics of the raised beds, as shown in the photograph taken from Ben Jonson, these would be recorded as part of the levels surveys and replicated during the paving reinstatement works.

My understanding is that the paving tiles are technically part of the hard landscaping and therefore fall within the estate-wide statutory grade 2 listing, rather than the non-statutory grade 2* listing on the register of parks and gardens and which applies to the “soft” landscaping, i.e. soil, planting, trees etc.
Regards
Christopher

That view from the top

Barbican Association AGM - Tue 21st at the girl's school

The Barbican Association (BA) is the peak residents association within the Barbican.  The house groups represent their individual houses, but the BA represents the whole estate.

The BA AGM will be held this Tuesday 21st April at 19:30 in the main hall of the City of London School for Girls (next to St. Giles church).

Thursday 16 April 2015

Cycle Racks on Whitecross St.

A comment was added to the recent post about house officer actions to say that the point raised about the cycle racks was not clear, so here is a photo and a bit of explanation.

Here they are
Fire safety officers and officials from accessibility groups agree that the new racks could pose a problem for prams and wheelchair users in the event of an emergency evacuation of Ben Jonson House.

There are a number of things which could be done about it, but the fire safety officer is firmly of the view that *something* must be done.

This is what our house officer is chasing for us.


Wednesday 15 April 2015

House Officer actions following (non) AGM

Our house officer, Sheila, has been busy since the meeting of the 25th March working on items we raised during the meeting.  Here are her notes and comments:
  • Request that contractors card flats either side when there is (say) scaffolding going up. This has been included as a comment for the SLA Working Party (meeting on 27 April).
  • Positive feedback regarding the clear up after the external redecoration.
  • Flat 355 Ben Jonson, lady resident still has slabs damaged by the painting contractors. Information passed for the second time to Steve Murray, Property Services Team Manager who managed the redecoration project.
  • Gate near Cromwell car park (on the forecourt) banging. This was adjusted the next day
  • Cracks in corridors of Ben Jonson House, can these be looked at prior to any internal redecoration work. This request has been passed to Christopher Bate, Surveyor for the Department of Community and Children’s Services Property Services Dept.
  • Cycle racks in Whitecross Street, this was passed to Karen Tarbox. Due to Karen’s commitments, I have now passed all the relevant information to Michael Bennett. Michael is currently reviewing this.
  • Thanks to Matthew and congratulations for his forthcoming retirement. This has been emailed to Matthew and placed on his personnel file by his Line Manager.
Thank you Sheila

Tuesday 14 April 2015

RCC Working Parties - volunteers needed!

Sent out by the BEO:
____

Dear Resident,

We are seeking volunteers who would be willing to join some of the Residents' Consultation Committee's Working Parties. At their Annual General Meeting in February, the RCC reviewed all of the Working Parties and identified a number of vacancies.

The RCC is keen to hear from any resident that feels they have the time and interest to join either of these two Working Parties:

Gardens Advisory Group (GAG) – this Working Party is made up of 8 resident representatives. There are already 5 serving members and we are looking for 3 more. The Group meet 4 times a year and the meetings take place during the daytime in the week. The GAG carries out joint inspections of the gardens, helps prioritise planting schemes and comments on the garden maintenance. A copy of the minutes of one the last meetings of the Group is attached.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Working Party - this Working Party is made up of 8 resident representatives. There are already 6 serving members and we are looking for 2 more. The Group meet 4 times a year and the meetings take place on weekday evenings. The SLA Working Party focuses on the quality of resident services and their delivery by the Barbican Estate Office. Suggestions for changes or improvements across the Estate made by the RCC go into an Action Plan, which this Working Party then monitors and reviews. It also reviews the performance of a range of services delivered by the Barbican Estate Office, as measured by a number of Key Performance Indicators that are updated on a quarterly basis. A copy of the last report to the RCC with the action plans and Key Performance Indicators is enclosed.

If you wish to know more or would like to put yourself forward, please contact the RCC Chair, Tim Macer at Tim@Macer.com. Please include a short personal statement, setting out (a) why you would like to join the working party and (b) what you could bring to the Working Party in the way of skill, expertise or interest. Please reply by Friday 1 May.

With regards
Barbican Estate Office

Crane in Silk street , Saturday 18th April.

Heavy lifting:
____

I am writing to inform you that we have a planned crane operation in Silk street ( between Moor Lane and Milton Street) on Saturday 18.04.2015.

This operation has been authorised by City of London Noise Pollution team.

We have a start time if 09.00hrs and we will be replacing glass to Milton Court.

We will ensure that best practise means are employed to keep noise to a minimum, electrical/mechanical equipment working optimally , no raised voices/shouting and no idling engines.

If you require further information please do not hesitate to contact me .

Best Regards
Yvonne Gadd
Traffic Management
Tel: 01708 805 550
Fax: 01708 805 558
Mob: 07815 008 512


Thursday 9 April 2015

Bloomin Barbican Balconies - reminder - this Saturday

From the BEO:
____

Dear resident,

Don't forget, this Saturday is the Bloomin Barbican Balconies day. Please come down to Lauderdale Place to meet your neighbours and enjoy some planting demonstrations.

There will also be free soil and plants for you to take home and plant up.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office
Click the image for a bigger version

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Refuse Collection Over Easter

From a resident via the blog message form (see the bottom of the page for the form). I'll forward the question to the BEO and see what they say ...
My wife and i stayed in the block over Easter. Not surprisingly, some of our rubbish stated to go off after a few days so we took it to the refuse disposal area next to the car park entrance in Golden  Lane. 
Last week I visited some of the blocks and saw on notice boards  that a refuse collection would be taking place on Sunday 5 April. One block was Bunyan Court. How come we didn't get a collection? We could have done with one.
The BEO have responded to say:
Bunyan Court pay extra for this service, as do Cromwell & Lauderdale Towers.
... which raises the question:  would we wish to pay extra for that too?  You can let the house group know by commenting on this post or by sending a message using the form below.

Monday 6 April 2015

Save the Swirls

A point raised at our recent (non) AGM:

The Ben Jonson Highwalk tiles are not just laid in boring straight lines, there are swirling patterns there too.  We'd like to keep the swirls when the highwalk resurfacing work moves along from Beech Gardens.

Some of the grade II* listed swirls

Fire Exits - please don't block them

Builders waste was left in both the north and south fire exits from staircase 63, level 3.  The waste was left overnight, disabling the exits until our cleaners found and removed the waste the following morning.

It looked like waste from a bathroom refit.

Please don't do this

Crossrail - Under our feet shortly

The last leg of the journey for the Crossrail Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will be beneath the Barbican and they're setting off shortly:

Click here to see the full Crossrail information sheet

Community Fair 2015 - Get involved!

From the BEO:
____

Dear Residents

The Community Fair will return to the Guildhall Yard on Saturday 13 June 2015. It's the City's biggest event for residents, and we hope to make 2015's even bigger and better.

The date has been moved forward by a month and we hope that this will mean more community organisations can participate. The attached document is an invitation for expressions of interest. It outlines how organisations can get involved in the Fair and the kind of things we are looking for.  

The initial deadline for expressions of interest is 5pm on Friday 24 April.  The Community Fair project board will consider all suggestions and try to accommodate everybody if we can.

If you are aware of any social groups/ organisations in the Barbican who would like to participate, please contact Will Cooper via the details on the attached poster.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Wednesday 1 April 2015

LFS works - questions for the City

The Barbican Association has sent in some questions about the LFS works to the City:
____
...

As you know, the structure of Breton House is shared with the space in Exhibition Hall 1 below it which the LFS will be taking over, with partition walls extending down into the basement level car park. The structure is also different from that of Ben Jonson House above the cinemas, so we do not think that comparisons with the cinemas work and its lack of effect on Ben Jonson are valid.

1. We would therefore like to see any reports that the City has or has commissioned (whether internal or external) on the likely effect of the work proposed by the City Surveyors of the  London Film School (notably but not confined to the creation of large holes in the horizontal floor plates) on the structural integrity of the rest of Breton House (and indeed Ben Jonson House).

2. Irrespective of the above reports, we seek the City's written assurance that there is no risk to the structural integrity of Breton House, or any other Barbican residential block, as a result of the work proposed in Exhibition Hall 1. 

3. We also seek the City's written assurance that it will put right, at its expense, any cosmetic damage that may occur to plaster work or other interior fixtures and fittings in any Barbican flat that is caused by the LFS work, or the enabling work that takes place beforehand.  

4. We also think that a party wall agreement will be necessary between the long leaseholders in Breton House and the LFS because the vertical walls are shared. We realise that the Freeholder for both Breton House residents and the LFS is the City, but we understand that leaseholders are also to be notified and included in party wall agreements. If you do not believe the Party Wall Act applies, we would appreciate a written explanation of why not.

Silk Street work: some road closures

From the BEO:
____

Dear resident,

Following the resurfacing works in Silk Street which took place in January 2015, the Silk Street Enhancement project is now substantially complete. All that remains to be delivered is anti-skid surfacing to certain sections of Silk Street; this will be completed between 7-10 April 2015, and will be done in short sections in order to minimise disruption. However, there will be no through traffic, and some localised, temporary road closures will be required:

-        7-8 April: Access to and from the Barbican Centre and associated car parks will from Milton Street only
-        9-10 April: Access to and from the Barbican Centre and associated car parks will be from Beech Street only

Access to Speed House car park will be restricted between 9-10 April; users of the car park have been contacted separately. Vehicle diversion signs will be in place; pedestrian access will be unaffected.

We would like to thank you for your patience whilst the works have been delivered, and hope that you have already started to notice the benefits. A final bulletin highlighting the main improvements will be circulated towards the end of April 2015. If you have any questions or comments in the meantime, please send these to the project email address – silkstreet@cityoflondon.gov.uk – which will remain live until the end of May 2015.

With regards,

Barbican Estate Office

Communications survey

The BEO are are running their annual communications survey.  If you'd like the BEO to run a blog, like this one but with news for the estate from the BEO, now is your chance to let them know:

____


Dear Residents
We are looking for feedback about how we communicate to all of our residents in the City of London.  Please take a few moments to fill in the attached survey – the feedback will be very useful for us to recognise any changes that are required and to see what currently works for all our residents.
The deadline for response is Monday 13 April.
With regards
Barbican Estate Office