Plans to transform the Grade II-listed Holborn Viaduct with a new architectural lighting scheme have been approved by the City of London Corporation.
Fleet Street Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) has secured planning permission and listed building consent for the project, which will illuminate the historic structure across Farringdon Street and Shoe Lane.
The scheme is intended to highlight the viaduct’s architectural features while improving visibility and safety beneath it, creating a more welcoming route through an important gateway into the Fleet Street Quarter.
It forms part of a wider programme of public realm investment across the district, where 33 developments are currently planned or underway.
PUBLIC REALM INVESTMENT
Built over the valley created by the River Fleet, Holborn Viaduct provides a connection into the Fleet Street Quarter and towards the new London Museum at Smithfield.
The project was identified as a priority in the BID’s Era of Change Public Realm Vision and has been developed with engineering and infrastructure consultancy WSP since 2024.
A feasibility study was followed by a lighting test in autumn 2025, with the final design intended to reference both the viaduct’s heritage and the River Fleet running beneath the area.
Safety, particularly for women and girls, has also been incorporated into the design as part of the BID’s wider Safe and Secure programme.
33 DEVELOPMENTS UNDERWAY
The lighting project comes as the wider Fleet Street Quarter undergoes substantial redevelopment.
Alongside 33 planned or active developments, proposals for Fleet Street itself include wider pavements, additional planting and seating, improved cycling infrastructure and other public realm improvements.
Lady Lucy French, Chief Executive Officer of Fleet Street Quarter BID, says: “Fleet Street Quarter is undergoing a huge period of transformation and it is vital our public realm keeps pace.
“Securing planning permission brings us an important step closer into transforming Holborn Viaduct into something that both celebrates its historic architecture while ensuring it is fit for the Quarter’s next chapter ahead.”
Bill Price, Director at WSP, adds: “The aesthetics, engineering and technical design carried out by WSP has been challenging and interesting in equal measure to bring the stakeholders, suppliers and installation team together in a collaborative way.”
Installation is now expected to move forward, with the completed lighting scheme scheduled for winter 2026/27.
