23/07/09 Plan Projects appointed to develop strategy for Westminster City Council

Plan Projects has been appointed to develop the Arts Strategy for a major public realm improvements programme in London’s West End.

Plan Projects has been commissioned by Westminster City Council to develop a strategy for integrating the work of artists through a programme of design and public art commissions into a series of public spaces in the West End of London. These spaces have been called ‘urban oases’ and include such critical sites as South Moulton Street and St. Christopher’s Place (illustrated below). The project forms part of the ORB Action Plan, the West End of London’s flagship environmental improvements and public realm strategy.

ORB is designed to make massive improvements to the facilities and environment in the West End of London and improve its offer as a retail destination. The Action Plan makes clear that the arts are fundamental to its delivery. They are uniquely placed to contribute a heightened sense of animation and place to the West End, and allow people to engage at a deeper level with its history and culture. The vision for the arts in the ORB zone is to make time spent there both a joyful experience and a means of making discoveries that prompt a greater sense of  personal connection with place.

The Arts Strategy touches three of the principle ‘Conservation Areas’ in the West End: The Portland Estate (Marylebone), Soho and Chinatown and East Marylebone. Each of these areas possess their own existing ‘collection’ of public art as well as their own very specific urban character. While our project concentrates on a series of eight ‘urban oases’ located adjacent to the main thoroughfares, we are alert to both the context in which these places exist and the function they serve within the wider environment.