Four innovative and creative wayfinding totems have been installed in front of the main viewing galleries as part of a collaborative project with the London Festival of Architecture, the Eastern City Business Improvement District and the City of London corporation.
This collection of architectural street furniture will connect the viewing galleries across the Eastern City whilst also spotlighting some of the key destinations and visitor attractions in the square mile. The vertical faceted shapes are designed to reflect the unique lines and forms in tall buildings of the surrounding built environment. Each piece incorporates a bespoke base which invites people to sit, dwell and engage with the streetscape around them.
Selecting a team
A team were selected as winners of a design competition run in partnership with the London Festival of Architecture 2025. Responding to the LFA’s theme of “Voices”, their totem concept — now installed outside The Lookout at 8 Bishopsgate, Horizon 22, The Garden at 120, and Sky Garden — incorporates quotes from an audio installation that celebrates the personal and collective stories tied to buildings and public spaces across the Eastern City.
The project was designed and delivered by a collaboration between bafalw; a collective of architects, designers and artists, and Red Collective; a London based fabrication studio specialising in sculptures and large-scale objects. wit. Together their work ranges from pop-up structures and interventions in unexpected spaces to public art commissions and large-scale installations in galleries.
Will Dyson, Placemaking Director for the Eastern City BID said:
“We are delighted to have worked in partnership with the City of London Corporation to deliver an innovative approach to engaging with visitors to the many elevated viewing galleries across the City. As well as adding visual interest and vibrancy to public space, these installations celebrate the history of the area and all that the Eastern City has to offer. These are important ambitions for us set out in our Public Realm Vision published last year.”
Chairman of the City of London Corporation Planning and Transportation Committee, Tom Sleigh: said:
“These totems are a striking example of how creativity and functionality can come together to enhance the City’s streetscape. Not only do they help orient and guide visitors to some of the Square Mile’s most iconic viewpoints, but they also provide seating and moments to pause, reflect and engage with the stories embedded in our urban environment. We’re proud to support projects like this that enrich public space and showcase the City’s ongoing evolution.”
Bafalw with Red Collective said:
“For us we were keen to reimagine how structures for wayfinding can act as a means to interact and understand the city. The intention behind the series of totems are to celebrate the richness of stories and layers that make up the city–acting as bridges between the ground and sky.
Materially this has manifested through a pairing of steel and stone, characteristic of the built language of the city. On the surfaces of the totem, handpainted patterns and words carefully cover the faces of the intervention to direct, orient and reveal the memories and experiences of the different voices that make up our city.”
These creative totems are expected to stay in place for a minimal of 18 months. This collection will stay in place for a minimum of 18 months, becoming a recognisable feature of the City streetscape. Click here to read more on Eastern City BID.