Barbican-"Podium" and " Highwalk"

According to one Council member: " Once people were up on the walkways there was no need for them to come down at all- until they wanted to go home".

Another said: " Young girls could be seen dashing across the traffic in Cheapside-it was a wonder they were not killed. The future would bless the Court if they approved elevated walkways".

That's what the most unique about the Barbican land is the podium covers so much of the estate that, once you are inside, it is effectively ground level. This new pedestrian level, which is generally 6 meters above street level, extends over 4.8 hectares of the site, in the form of terraces, linked by narrower high walks. The podium seems to be even higher when you lean over one of the balustrade edges to look at the lake or the gardens, which are in fact not at 'ground' level but several metre below it. The Barbican Centre famously has many levels which no-one can follow, but its 'ground level' is the below-ground level of the lake and the gardens. This adds to the psychological separation of estate and Arts Centre.

'Highwalk' is best used for the bridge-like narrow paths round the outskirts of the Barbican.