Paternoster Square
London
EC4M 7DX
Visitor Information
Architect: John Simpson
Built: 2003
Size: 92, 903 m²
The Paternoster Square of the 70s and 80s – built after bomb damage in 1940 – was not well-liked and became largely vacant office and retail space. In 1987 a competition was launched to find an architect to redevelop the site, a sensitive position in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral. The next 13 years became a jumble of stop-start plans: Richard Rogers’ company was chosen along with Arup Associates but after objections from Prince Charles, the designs were dismissed. The job was then handed to John Simpson, whose classical scheme was supported by the Prince and sponsored by the Evening Standard. Simpson created an alternative plan for the square and employed a host of other classical architects. Although permission was granted for the development, the recession meant Simpson’s plans were also shelved.
In 1996 William Whitfield was brought in as masterplanner, appointing MJP (Warwick Court), Eric Parry/Sheppard Robson (10 Paternoster Square), Michael Hopkins, Allies and Morrison (St Martin’s Court), John Simpson and himself as architects. In 2003 Paternoster Square finally reopened – neither wholly classical or modern. Although celebrated by some as the perfect neighbour to St Paul’s, it also has its critics, who have labelled it ‘banal’. It now houses a selection of shops and restaurants as well as the London Stock Exchange (formerly on Threadneedle Street). It is also home to the restored Temple Bar, a 23-metre tall Monument-lookalike, the Paternoster Square Column, and the bronze Shepherd and Sheep statue by Elisabeth Frink.