Imagining the Barbican Lake: Lakeside Pyramid

Here you can see the lake pictured by Andrewes House, which is named after Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), a famous preacher and later Bishop whose first job was at the Barbican’s church, St Giles Cripplegate. 

Here is a drawing of the Barbican's church, St Giles Cripplegate, on the other side of the lake.

The lake was designed alongside walkways at the lakeside and podium level.

In designing the Barbican’s lake and its surroundings, the Barbican’s architects Chamberlin Powell and Bon were particularly influenced by the watery Italian City of Venice.

Both Andrewes House and Speed House overlook the Barbican Lakeside. In the version shown here, a glass pyramid is shown as a feature. This is nearly twenty years before the famous pyramid at the centre of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Here you can see the same view of Speed House and the lake, without the proposed pyramid.

Instead there is a waterfall cascading into the lake.

The glass pyramid design moved from the lake and became the conservatory we have today.

The design is very similar to the one in the original artist's impression - take a look back to compare them.