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London's Crystal Palace Reconstruction Effort Receives $800 Million in Funding

London's Crystal Palace Reconstruction Effort Receives $800 Million in Funding

Plans have been revealed for the reconstruction of London’s famed Crystal Palace and its surrounding 180-acre public park after London’s Mayor Boris Johnson, accepted an $800 million investment promise from Shanghai-based investors ZhongRong Group. Constructed in 1851 for the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, a fire ravaged Joseph Paxton’s glass and cast iron structural innovation in 1936. Since then, the area has been mostly abandoned with even the sizable public green space around it largely unused except for temporary events. At the launch event last week, ZhongRong Group announced its funding plans and independent engineering firm, ARUP, revealed their renovation renderings and park design plans.

Following the original Victorian design, plans for renovation will restore the Crystal Palace to its former glory with the intention that it become a cultural attraction for England’s capital city. Landscape proposals plan a 21st century update, yet are sensitive to Paxton’s style and the needs of local residents. The new green space will include Italian terraces, a tree-lined “Paxton Axis” boulevard connecting the palace and park to the city center, improved landscaping and lighting, a visitor center, a café, and a refurbishment of the existing concert bowl.

The entire project is proposed for completion by 2018.


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