Tall & Urban News

Plans for The Tulip project in London have been rejected. This decision comes after two previous delays. The Planning Inspectorate originally planned to have a decision in late September, but this deadline was pushed back to mid-October to let the new secretary of state, Michael Gove settle into the job as he had just replaced Robert Jenrick.

The project was originally approved by the city of London in the spring of 2019. However, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, overturned this decision. In November 2020, a multi-week public inquiry was held for the project. Ultimately, it was Gove who ordered the rejection of the project this week.

The public inquiry, as well as an analysis from planning inspector David Nicholson made two main arguments against the project. Firstly, it was concluded that the purpose, form, material, and location of the project would cause harm to the significance of the Tower of London as well as other heritage assets. Secondly, despite numerous strategies that were used to improve the sustainability of the construction and operation of the project, the fact that the shaft of the building would require large amounts of reinforced concrete causes the inspector to question the projects overall sustainability. Gove used these two issues to mainly support his decision to reject the proposed project.

For more on this story, go to The Architect’s Journal.