Abi Burnham

Office blocks overlooking the Barbican Centre on Silk Street are soon to be unoccupied as the current residents, law firm Linklaters, move around the corner to Ropemaker Street. The building won’t be uninhabited for long though, as developers have been quick to jump on the property with a big idea: namely a 21-story ‘best-in-class’ office building.  The plan comes from Lipton Roger Developments and a team of architects, including SOM, the people responsible for the new Harrow Square development (the big shiny buildings by the Harrow on the Hill station). Mock-ups of the new design were published earlier this month, allowing Barbican residents to get an idea of what their new neighbours might look like – if they are still living there in 2032, the proposed finish date of the project. While it looks like the building will mainly function as offices, a spokesperson for One Silk Street says it’ll also boast a ‘combination of cultural, amenity and sustainable uses’. It is not yet clear what this means exactly, but there is mention of a public route through the development with potential for retail, food and art spaces. Image:SOM The project has been gauging residents’ opinions of the project since 2023. The feedback hasn’t been all positive, as some locals have concerns over the height of the new building, as well as how it could block sunlight and lead to increased noise. Residents seem keen on retrofitting the existing building rather than tearing it down and starting again,

Thanks to a new government arts and culture fund, two London museums are getting a financial boost. The Brentford-based London Museum of Water and Steam will receive a hefty £2.6 million, while the Foundling Museum in Brunswick Square will get £319,000 of financial support. Smaller museums like these are the target of the new ‘Arts Everywhere Fund’, which aims to aid institutions in danger of closing or in need of infrastructure improvements. The £270 million fund’s cash will be spread across the UK, and the fund itself marks the 60th anniversary of the first ever culture policy document published by the government. But let's get back to the London museums receiving funding – who are they, what are they about, and what will they use the money for? The London Museum of Water and Steam’s name is a pretty big giveaway. Based in a Victorian engine house, the Brentford institution concerns all things steam engines, pipes, sewers and tunnels. The director of the museum, Hannah Harte, has said that the ‘funding is vital’ and will be used to restore its Great Engine House, making sure the building is watertight. Photograph:London Museum of Water & Steam In Bloomsbury, the Foundling Museum works to bring historic stories of children in care to light on the grounds of a 1700s ‘foundling hospital’ for abandoned infants. The museum works with artists, musicians and designers to put on thoughtful exhibitions centring on children and the people who care for them. Emma Ridgway, the Foun

Swimmers, surfers and fossil fans on the Isle of Wight will likely be familiar with Yaverland Beach, a gorgeous stretch of sand on the southeast of the island. For those less acquainted with the southerly isle, Yaverland is located just north of popular tourist spot Sandown and is home to the Wildheart animal sanctuary and Dinosaur Isle, a museum that is, unsurprisingly, dedicated to dinos. Alongside those animals (both alive and long-dead), Yaverland’s main draw is its mile-long beach with waters perfect for swimming and surfing. However, the Environmental Agency and the Isle of Wight Council are concerned that the beach might not look the same for long. Rising sea levels and aging coastal defences mean Yaverland’s town and beach are at risk of flooding and erosion. So the council and Environmental Agency have come up with a plan to save them.  The plan will involve strengthening and refurbishing the existing sea wall that runs along Yaverland’s coastline. The council will also replace and refresh the groynes (those big wooden barriers on beaches that stick into the sea) which are spread across the beach. Reinforcing the wall will protect the areas behind from flooding, especially during stormy English winters, and replacing the groynes will help trap sand, stopping it washing down the coastline and keeping the beach intact for years to come. It’s projected that the scheme will cost around £22 million and won’t be fully complete until 2030. However, according to the Yaverlan

Had enough of bad parking in London? So, it seems, has mayor Sadiq Khan, who has approved a Transport and Environment Committee proposal to increase parking fines. Shoddy parkers, you’ve been warned.  Across the capital, in every London borough, parking fines will increase by a not-unsizable £30. The change is expected to be put into action in April of this year. But that isn’t all. The parking fines work in a two-band system with different charges depending on location within London. ‘Band A’ includes the more central and congested areas of the capital and ‘Band B’ covers suburban areas where parking is less of an issue (according to the transport committee, though local residents might not agree). You can find a list of all the areas in Band A on the London Councils website here.  Within these bands, there are also two levels of parking offence. Higher level offences include stuff such as parking on double yellows, while lower offences feature things like overstaying your paid parking spot. The increase in fines will affect both higher and lower charges in bands A and B.  Here’s the breakdown of how much London’s parking fines are increasing, come April.  Higher level fines will rise from £130 to £160 in Band A and from £110 to £140 in Band B. Lower Level fines will rise from £80 to £110 in Band A and from £60 to £90 in Band B. Additional fees related to clamping and towing cars will also be increased. It will now be a £100 charge to get a clamp removed (up from £70) and

In February and March, some bus routes across London will be bringing back an original safety measure from the capital’s old Routemaster buses. To stop passengers from taking a tumble, a bell will ring twice to let them know that the bus will depart soon and remind them to ‘hold on tight’.  The classic AEC Routemaster double-decker buses no longer operate on bus routes in London, but these bells will be a nostalgic nod to the iconic vehicles. TfL’s safety research team found that passengers are injured on buses primarily by ‘slips, trips and falls’, so it’s coming up with ideas to combat this. While serious passenger injuries on London buses have fallen from 91 injuries in 2022 to 76 in 2024, TfL is trying to find ways to get this number down even more.  The Routemaster bus ‘dings’ will also be accompanied by a trial of seat counters to let passengers know whether it is worth heading upstairs on double-decker buses and help reduce overcrowding on the lower level. The upstairs seat counters will be trialled sometime later this year, though TfL has not confirmed which bus routes will be trialling either the bells or the counters.  The safety research team and the new measures are part of the Mayor of London's ‘Bus Action Plan’, which aims to provide ‘an attractive, zero-emission bus service for all Londoners’ intended to be completed by 2030. If you’re keen to find out more, you can read the safety report and action plan here and here, respectively.  Get the latest and greates