Spring change for Friends House garden
Friends House garden to be re-landscaped in 2014
The garden at Friends House is due to be reshaped next spring to give better access for wheelchair users. Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) trustees approved the plans for major works at their October meeting.
The changes, which require planning permission, will give wheelchair users street-level access to the restaurant for the first time. A new ramp will provide access to the garden entrance of Friends House. Terraces and outdoor seating areas will be built outside Friends House restaurant and the Quaker Centre café.
A spokesperson for BYM trustees said the works are in line with their vision: ‘to make Friends House accessible to all, a place of quiet in the bustle of central London, and a place of outreach to the community’.
The works are expected to start in spring 2014 and to be completed by the end of the year. They have been prompted by the decision taken by BYM trustees’ property policy group to locate a new electricity substation costing £459,000 below ground, along with a bin store and additional cycle parking for visitors and staff. The substation is required due to new regulations for electricity users drawing more than 200 amps from the grid.
The landscaping works are expected to cost a further £529,000. They will be funded with money gained from the sale of a long lease on Courtauld House, the former home of the Quaker International Centre, which has been held in BYM reserves. The works are not expected to reduce expenditure on the centrally managed work of BYM.
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