The Phoenix Garden, a green space and community building tucked into London's West End, takes centre stage in the next short film published with Open House London.
Filmed by Jim Stephenson, the documentary is one of nine videos that will feature on Dezeen throughout Open House London 2020 to celebrate rarely published places in the capital.
The Phoenix Garden is located on a former World War II bomb site near Convent Garden. It opened to the public in 1984 as one of seven green retreats in the area, but it is the only one remaining.
In 2017, local studio Office Sian added a brick and limestone building to the entrance of the site, which contains a multifunctional space for events and workshops to expand the garden's offerings.
The Phoenix Garden's exterior that references traditional walled gardens In the documentary, Office Sian founder, Gurmeet Sian, outlines the story behind the studio's design for the building.
He notes that it takes its cues from traditional English walled gardens but also forms a connection with the existing brick pathways that meander through the site, which were built by the Phoenix Garden's own gardener.
The boundary wall is punctured by a giant, wooden archway to the street, which conceals the garden and entices passersby by showing them that "there's something beyond."
Architect Gurmeet Sian beside the arched wooden entrance
Sian goes on to emphasise that the design of the community building was a highly collaborative process, during wh...