Buckingham Palace Redesigned: A Radical New Approach to London's Royal Parks

Sir Terry Farrell, an international architect based in London who has done some of his most sensitive work there, has long believed that the Royal Parks and palaces are London's primary public realm and indeed virtually the only world-class public realm in this great capital city. Yet as they now exist they are not as splendid as their designers intended: walls separate palaces from their parklands; very busy roads travel through and around them; and the visual connections between them have been destroyed. In fact, they play a vital role in the urban planning of the capital in that they highlight the difference between the City of Westminster - the seat of governmenet and monarchy, and the City of London - the seat of commerce. Sir Terry sees them as anti-urban space set pieces: great country houses set in rural parkland, originally intended as hunting grounds. Over the years, they have evolved and become assimilated in the dense urban fabric. He believes that in a democracy all should be accessible as a glorious public realm. Published here for the first time are his plans for the full integration of both palaces and parks into the fabric of London in a positive, creative and visionary way.