Tall & Urban News

Stiff + Trevillion’s designs for a 48-story skyscraper in the City of London’s eastern cluster have sparked a conservation row.

The proposal for developer BentallGreenOak involves the demolition of a 1960s office building at 31 Bury Street, near the Gherkin, and a new tall, slim office tower clad in light-blue terracotta.

According to the architect, the design marks a desire to move away from what it calls the "glass curtain wall" aesthetic of recent City tower developments.

While it is more than 100 meters shorter than Foster’s Tulip, the controversial visitor attraction planned at number 20 Bury Street, Stiff + Trevillion’s scheme is facing similar battles with heritage groups over its impact on views of the Tower of London.

Objections to the scheme have been lodged by Historic Royal Palaces, the charity which guards the Tower of London World Heritage Site, and Historic England.

The heritage body is concerned the scheme will provide a "high level" of harm to the tower by diminishing its visual dominance.

It said: "The development would also erode the appreciation of the Tower of London’s strategic siting on the River Thames set apart from the mercantile City of London by blocking part of the skyline between the eastern cluster and the White Tower."

The scheme faces other hurdles due to it being attached to the Grade II*-listed Holland House, a 1914 office by Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage, and near the Grade I-listed Bevis Marks Synagogue, which has made a large number of objections.

In planning documents sent to the City of London, the design team argues that the tower "steps down" from the taller buildings in the center of the Eastern City Cluster.

The architect said the base of the building has been matched to the darker shades of the nearby Gherkin and complemented the style of Holland House.

Stiff + Trevillion's scheme is the latest in a wave of new towers in the Square Mile which have either been recently approved or are currently making their way through the planning process.

Last week KPF got the go-ahead for a 33-story mixed-use tower at 70 Gracechurch Street, close to Rafael Viñoly’s Walkie Talkie. The tower is backed by Hong Kong developer Tenacity, which is also behind another proposed office-led high-rise scheme on the nearby 55 Gracechurch Street, designed by Fletcher Priest Architects – a 32-story tower approved last month.

Across at Broadgate, 3XN expected to be given the green light for its 37-story scheme at 2 and 3 Finsbury Avenue Square, which was due to be considered by the City of London’s planning and transportation committee tomorrow on 24 February, 2021.

The architect and developer both declined to comment.

For more on this story, go to Architects' Journal.