Beckenham High Street

Beckenham High Street

East designed improvements along the entire length of this curving historic street in Bromley. Linking local destinations such as Beckenham Place Park, Kelsey Park, and Beckenham Junction, and holding a vibrant range of local shops and amenities, the award winning design acts as a public interface with a deep range of green and open spaces. The challenge was to improve the pedestrian environment whilst ensuring a smooth flow of cars, parking and service arrangements and bus stops.

Our approach, working closely with the term contractor, was to provide a good background, with a series of foreground moments along the ways; each of which related to the specific history and character of the place. Crossings were relocated for more intuitive movement. Laybys were designed as integral to the footway width. Seating, trees, lights, signs and special granite edge pieces were all located following extensive local engagement and dialogue, over a period of several years. An extended public dialogue around the pros and cons of shared surfaces; their disbenefits and benefits, helped shape the careful use of kerb alignments and kerb heights, with a minimum of railings.

The background provides a calm sense of continuity, with pink granite and red small unit paving. The surfaces act as a foil to the complex and rich range of architectures and spaces.

The foreground moments, located at key junctions, include a painted flash to recall David Bowie’s early performances here, a large Beckenham sign built into new large tree pit seated surrounds, and a glow in the dark concrete seat, shaped as an ‘O’, to celebrate the adjacent Odeon cinema. Painted alleyway signs invite access between the street and its surrounds.