A stacked slate surprise – the story behind a wave-patterned wall

A side street just behind Buckingham Palace has a very unusual wall made entirely from stacks of slate.

Unsurprisingly, it’s also a work of art, in this case by Andy Goldsworthy OBE, who is noted for his site-specific sculptures and land art. Goldsworthy is generally considered the founder of modern rock balancing – and has previously worked with dry stone wallers.

Here, on Montrose Place, is the simply and obviously named 56 foot long “Slate Wall”.

Up close, it looks like a rather fine finished slate wall with a wave inserted into the design, but if you step back to the other side of the road, it becomes apparent that it’s a map of London — with the weaving path of the River Thames suddenly very obvious.

It was added here as part of the planning permission to demolish the buildings next door and replace them with a row of luxury flats overlooking a private garden. The wall that was added sits in front of the garden, shielding its super rich users from the mere ordinary folk who might walk past.

The garden used to be something else though – a public car park – which was grassed over and sealed off as part of the development. I doubt many people miss the loss of the car park, but don’t worry, the super rich have parking space in the basement to replace it. And some people park will their car there anyway.

Although their original proposals fell short of the minimum required by Westminster Council, the developer, Native Land has said that they spent double the amount required by the eventual planning permission to commission the artwork.

To find the artwork, it’s on Montrose Place, between Belgrave Square and the back of Buckingham Palace.