Osteria Restaurant Opening - Friends and Family invite

From the BEO on behalf of the Barbican Centre:

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Osteria is launching at the Barbican with a  'soft opening' 1^st to 10^th February

We would love to welcome you to Osteria from 1^st February. An invite is attached and below. Please note the dinner sitting on 10^th February is already fully booked.

Osteria is a new restaurant created by Searcys in collaboration with Anthony Demetre and will specialise in bold, ingredient-focussed Italian cooking. Led by Head Chef Patrick Leano, formerly of the Michelin starred Arbutus in Soho, menus will change regularly, with a focus on Italian produce and seasonality.

In the bar, cocktails will focus on Italian classics such as Negronis and Bellinis. The wine list will include famous Barolos or Supertuscans plus an intriguing line-up of indigenous varieties and new generation winemakers from Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia.

Both the restaurant and bar will have a stunning new look and part of the space will be given over to exhibiting work of exciting artists, linking the restaurant to the cultural heritage of the Barbican Centre. The first artist to showcase their work in Osteria will be German-born Cornelia Baltes who studied at The Slade and will also be exhibiting at the Limoncello gallery in London from 14^th January to mid-February.

www.osterialondon.co.uk

Bernard Morgan House - a Google View

On Saturday I visited the Taylor Wimpey exhibition again to find out the height of the proposed building. I met Nigel Hetherington who told me he is the project architect.  He said that the building would be about 40m tall with about 3m per floor, though suspected that it would be a bit less than 40m in it's final form.  Another person visiting the exhibition was told that the new building would be about the height of the UBS building.

Given this information I used a computer program called SketchUp to produce a 3D model of the proposed building.

For the floor plan I used the plan from the information given at the exhibition:

The plan

This shows the outline of the building and the places where the height of the building changes, for example where the top few floors step back.  Given the plan, the 40m height, the number of floors (12 including ground) and the 3m per floor I came up with this model:

The proposed building modelled in SketchUp

The SketchUp model can then be exported as a .kmz file (see below if you would like to get this file), which can in turn be viewed using Google Earth. Here is how the model looks in the Google Earth desktop program on a mac:

The model in Google Earth

Viewed in Google Earth the model sits on the site pretty much as shown in the Taylor Wimpey images, and it looks to be about the height of the UBS building, so I think this gives a reasonable sense of how a building of the proposed shape and size would look.

The KMZ file: If you just click on the following link it may not open in Google Earth, so make sure you download the .kmz file, download and install Google Earth and then open the .kmz file on your computer. The .kmz file is here.

Bernard Morgan House Event

Taylor Wimpey held their Bernard Morgan House exhibition this evening, run by the Wesbourne communications company (Slogan: Call Westbourne, change opinion).

The exhibition will be also running tomorrow from 10:00am.  See the calendar (on the right) for details.

Taylor Wimpey are proposing a new ~40m 12 story (including the ground floor) structure set back 1.5m from the Golden Lane pavement to allow for a light well for the below ground floor rooms.  The current building rises to just ground + 5 stories and is set back by a few meters behind a sunken garden, so the mass of the proposed building is much greater than the old.

You can see details on the http://www.bmhconsultation.co.uk/ website.  Here are a couple of images from the site (click on the images for a larger view):

Looking south along Golden Lane.  New building on right.

Looking north along Golden Lane.  New building on left.

New No Smoking Sign

We have a new No Smoking sign attached to the concrete of the spiral ramp at the eastern end of Ben Jonson House, and a very nice looking sign it is too.

It's hard to imagine that the smokers who took a glass of wine with them as they ducked out of Cote didn't see the new sign.  The member of Cote staff thanked me when I pointed out their glass was out there and she nipped out to collect it, but didn't remove the rest of their customers waste.

Handy place for ones makeshift ashtray

Water off on Mon 25th Jan

The water will be off in Ben Jonson House from 10:00 on Monday 25th January.  The plan is to restore the supply by 17:00.

From the BEO:
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Click image to read the letter

Lift Call Console Cleaning

The City has decided that paint on lift call consoles in Shakespeare Tower diminishes the asset value of the estate, and so they are using their powers to hire a firm to clean them and have sent out this notice:

Click to read the whole letter

I have asked the estate office if there are any examples of a paint-covered console in Ben Jonson House.

Closure of Beech Street on 23 & 30 Jan - POSTPONED

From the BEO:

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Dear Residents

Upcoming closure of Beech Street tunnel - 23 and 30 January - POSTPONED

Please note the planned closure of Beech St tunnel has been postponed. This is due to the Southbound closure of Wood Street being extended until mid-February. New dates for the closure of Beech St will follow in due course.

With regards
Barbican Estate Office

Your Service Cupboard

Beside the door to your flat there is a service cupboard.  The cupboard has four sections.  Three of the four sections can be accessed from within your flat by opening the single tall door.  From the outside of your flat, each section is separately accessible.  From the outside it looks like this:

Click image to enlarge

Services: The top section can only be accessed from outside the flat.  If you had the magic key you would see that there is little in there except wires.  Best not to touch.

Fresh milk & eggs:  The second section from the top really was for the delivery of fresh dairy goods.  The milkman would visit each day leaving your milk and eggs.  Sadly this service ended a long time ago, long before Waitrose appeared on the scene.  This is the highest section you see from within your flat.

Post:  This section has a letter flap on the outside, and is the middle section of the cupboard as seen from inside the flat.  Small packets delivered by postal people and estate staff go here.  Items which are too large for the slot are left with the Car Park Attendants, in which case you will get a notice that there is something to collect (used to be pink cards, now more likely to be an SMS).

Rubbish:  Rubbish is collected from this bottom section every week day between 08:00 and 09:00.  It's quite a large section and so can easily handle daily waste, and even a weekend's worth of waste (recycling (incl. empty wine bottles!) and garden waste) will fit in most cases.  If you can't fit all your waste in the rubbish section your barbican key will let you use the bin store beneath Breton house, by the car park in-ramp.  If you are unable to access the bin store, and as a last resort, you can leave rubbish in supplied Barbican waste bags (which don't leak) directly in front of your door just before the morning waste collection service ... but be aware that waste in the common spaces is a potential fire hazard so do not leave waste in the corridor overnight and certainly not over a weekend. 

CityHealth Online Directory Focus Group 10 Feb

Via the BEO:

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CityHealth Online Directory Focus Group
Wednesday 10th February 2016, 2pm-4pm
Artizan Street Library, London, E1 7AF

The Online Directory for City residents, City workers and students hosted by Healthwatch City of London is now active http://www.city-health.org.uk/

We would be delighted if you could give us your views over tea and biscuits.

Have your say on what services should be in the directory.

What do you want from the directory?

Please RSVP to book your place to Catherine at CityHealth@ageuklondon.org.uk or
call 0207 820 6787

Address: Artizan Street Library, 1 Artizan Street, London, E1 7AF

Artizan Street Library is less than a 10 minute walk from Aldgate, Aldgate East and Liverpool Street Station.

Gin Joint to be replaced by Osteria

From the BEO for the arts centre and caterers Searcy's
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The Logo

Osteria is a new restaurant created by Searcys in collaboration with Anthony Demetre (acclaimed Chef Patron of Arbutus in Soho and Wild Honey in Mayfair) and will specialise in bold, ingredient-focussed Italian cooking in the bistronomy style that Demetre has helped to pioneer. Led by Head Chef Patrick Leano, formerly of the Michelin starred Arbutus in Soho, menus will change regularly, with a focus on Italian produce and seasonality. In the bar, cocktails will focus on Italian classics such as Negronis and Bellinis. The wine list will include famous Barolos or Supertuscans plus an intriguing line-up of indigenous varieties and new generation winemakers from Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia.

Both the restaurant and bar will have a stunning new look and part of the space will be given over to exhibiting work of exciting artists, linking the restaurant to the cultural heritage of the Barbican Centre. The first artist to showcase their work in Osteria will be German-born Cornelia Baltes who studied at The Slade and will also be exhibiting at the Limoncello gallery in London from 14thJanuary to mid-February.

The restaurant will close from 25 January and re-open on the evening of 1 February 2016. During this time the space will undergo some interior redecorations but these do not include any noisy building work.

As is traditional in new restaurant openings of this nature, the official opening will actually be the 11 February with ‘family and friends’ receiving incentives to dine during the first 11 days – watch this space for further details! During this ‘soft opening’ period a pre-theatre menu will be in operation for Barbican audiences between 5-7pm Monday to Sunday. The full menu will be available to the public from the 11 February.

Any questions please email me at adrian.morgan@barbican.org.uk and to keep updated please visit www.osteriabarbican.co.uk

Refuse in the corridors

The BEO have sent a letter regarding leaving refuse in the corridors of the block:

Click this image to read the whole letter

Beech Gardens update

From the BEO:

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Dear residents 

Please be aware that VolkerLaser will be continuing with snagging works on Beech Gardens. VolkerLaser will be continuing the excavation and repairs to a small area along from Mendelssohn's Tree close to John Trundle Court and Lauderdale Tower there will be some noisy works. The working hours will be 9.00am to 5.00pm. 

Barbican Estate Office

Wardmote moved to 11th March

The date of the 2016 Cripplegate Wardmote is now 11th March (was previously planned for the 16th March).

The time and venue remains the same, the Barber Surgeons Hall at 19:30.

See the earlier post and the house group calendar (on the upper right of the blog page) for more information.

Beech Street closed - 23 and 30 January

From the BEO:

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Dear Residents 

Beech Street is scheduled to be fully closed for tunnel maintenance between 9am and 4pm on Saturdays 23 and 30 January 2016. 

There will be no access to Beech Street between Golden Lane and Aldersgate Street during the hours stated above. All vehicular traffic will be diverted via Aldersgate Street, London Wall, Moorgate, Finsbury Pavement and Chiswell Street. Access to pedestrians shall be maintained. 

Access to both Defoe/Shakespeare car park and Lauderdale Place during the planned road closures will be maintained via Golden Lane. Vehicles will be escorted by the site operatives. 

If you have any queries, please contact Andrea Moravicova, Streetworks Communications Officer on 020 7332 1893. 

With regards
Barbican Estate Office

Rattle Hall "rejected by leading musicians"

An article in the Guardian discusses the proposed location of the new concert hall which the City would like to be built on the current Museum of London site.  It seems that "leading musicians"would prefer a riverside location.

Leading musicians prefer to be beside the riverside

Substation Alarm before Christmas

We have an update from a City officer about the substation alarm which disturbed people for a few days over the Christmas period:

I had hoped to bring more detail to my reply before responding to your note but I'm aware time is passing so wanted you to assure you that we have not let matters rest on this event. We are still following up on the activation occurrence to establish root cause. I will be in touch as soon as this piece of work is complete. In the meantime I would wish to extend our sincere apologies to all residents who were inconvenienced by this alarm.

The alarm in question

Bernard Morgan House Proposals

As discussed on Barbican Talk:

Taylor Wimpey will be presenting their proposals for "returning (the site) to non-institutional residential use" (sic) on the premises 5pm - 8pm, Friday 29th January and 10am - 4pm on Saturday 30th January.

Bernard Morgan house used to be a police section house (e.g. accommodation for visiting officers) but was sold by the City last year.

Here is the letter mentioned in the Barbican talk thread:

Click image to read the whole letter

Baggage Stores - A Survey

The Estate Office have sent out a link to a survey-monkey survey about baggage stores ...

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We are looking to provide additional store facilities for residents.

In order for us to look at all the options, we would appreciate your assistance in responding to this survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/baggagestoresurvey

Survey to close on Monday 25 January 2016.