The relocation of a Grade II listed mural designed by Dorothy Annan from the former Central Telegraph Office on Farringdon Street to the highwalk between Speed House and the Barbican Centre is another chapter in the ever-evolving story of AHMM’s interventions into the Barbican. Originally commissioned in 1960 by the Ministry of Works, the mural comprises nine large tiled panels arranged as a linear series depicting abstractions of the telecommunications industry that formed part of the ‘white heat British technology’ referred to by Harold Wilson at the time. Each panel is a bespoke and handsomely-made object, composed of 40 individually textured, painted and fired ceramic tiles. The new setting required careful orchestration; the accessibility of place, the quality of lighting, the character of frame and the process of installation are balanced to safeguard the mural’s unique charms and respect the Barbican’s listed fabric while allowing for the possibility of future relocation.

2014
Location
City of London
Client
Goldman Sachs on behalf of City of London

Allford
Hall
Monaghan
Morris