With London set to expand upwards again, Chris Blackhurst explains why commercial forces trump heritage in the surge to the sky
In the battle of the skyscrapers, it is honours even.
asserted
it → set → skyscrapers
Details have been unveiled for One London, the tallest structure in the City that will exactly match in height Southwark’s Shard at 309.6 metres (the proximity of London City Airport means there is a limit of 310 metres).
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proximity → unveil → metres
The mighty One London will comprise 74 floors, have terraces, public gardens and Europe’s highest public viewing gallery, run by the London Museum.
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London → comprise → Museum
Levels 72 and 73 will form “education spaces” where the museum “will bring the city’s history and geography to life”.
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museum → form → life
The hospitality industry may be feeling the pinch on the ground but in London, up above it is booming.
uncertain
it → feel → London
Gordon Ramsay’s latest annual results show that the best-performing restaurants in his worldwide empire are those at the top of 22 Bishopsgate.
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restaurants → show → Bishopsgate
Its 63 storeys will feature a public conservatory or “sky garden”, water-wall and 360-degree rooftop viewing platform.
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storeys → feature → conservatory
The ground floor of One London alone adds 42,700 square feet of public space, with 350 outdoor seats.
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floor → add → seats
Its architect Eric Parry said: “We stand at a historic moment of physical metamorphosis as the City rises in a uniquely close and tall form, at the centre of which is One London.”
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London → say → which
It will be located between two other landmark towers — also made to look relatively small in comparison — the Cheesegrater and the Gherkin.
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It → locate → comparison
Before work can begin, the building it’s replacing must first be demolished.
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it → begin → ?
The condemned structure is no slouch either.
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structure → condemn → ?
Reduced to rubble will be the St Helen’s Tower, also known by its address as No.1 Undershaft or the Commercial Union building or Aviva Tower in reference to its previous occupants.
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Tower → reduce → occupants
Their home once measured 118 metres.
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home → measure → metres
The disappearing tower was said to have been influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and was reminiscent of his Seagram Building in New York.
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tower → disappear → York
The London version was bombed by the IRA in 1992, after which it was refurbished.
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it → bomb → which
That “physical metamorphosis” is by no means confined to the financial quarter.
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metamorphosis → confine → quarter
Across town, the iconic, instantly recognisable BT Tower is to receive a very different appearance.
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Tower → receive → appearance
MCR, America’s third-largest hotel operator, paid £275 million for what was once known to everyone as “the Post Office Tower”.
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what → pay → Tower
It is to add a rooftop swimming pool and a 360-degree, revolving observation deck along with a ground-floor public square, restaurants and shops.
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It → add → square
AI may be causing redundancies, but businesses need more room
The driver of the surge skywards is office space.
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driver → cause → surge
Workers may be able to function anywhere remotely via their laptops, AI may be causing redundancies, but businesses need more room, especially in the City.
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businesses → function → City
In a breakthrough for the property developers, the City of London Corporation has overcome Historic England, the heritage watchdog, to be permitted to erect towers near the City’s original and most historic structure, the Tower of London.
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Corporation → overcome → London
The Government intervened in a dispute between the pair and appeared to be siding with the pro-heritage lobby.
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Government → intervene → lobby
But, in a late twist, Matthew Pennycook, the planning minister, now says he is satisfied the proposed steel and glass towers will not overshadow views of the 11th-century stone fortress after all.
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towers → say → fortress
Pennycook believes the “City Plan’s heritage policies … provide substantial safeguards to protect the Tower of London Unesco World Heritage Site and mitigate the risk of harm to the Tower’s attributes of outstanding universal value”.
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policies → believe → value
The City Corporation was ready to approve its masterplan on development policy up to 2040, which included the construction of further skyscrapers.
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which → approve → skyscrapers
Historic England objected, fearing they would encroach on the Tower of London’s setting.
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they → object → setting
Historic England sought a larger “uninterrupted gap of clear sky” between the Tower of London and the new neighbours, to preserve unobstructed lines of sight of the former royal palace, prison and execution yard, location of the Crown Jewels and the Beefeaters.
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England → seek → Jewels
It also maintained that the titanic steel and glass arrivals should “lean away” from the Tower.
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arrivals → maintain → Tower
From their side, the City burghers said Historic England’s stance risked imperilling one million square feet of planned new office tower projects.
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stance → say → projects
At stake, said the City, were as many as 20 skyscrapers, providing 6,800 jobs and producing £1.2 billion in economic output every year.
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skyscrapers → say → output
The corporation was able to draw on the support of 200 of the Square Mile’s largest property developers who together form the City Property Association (CPA).
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who → draw → Association
The association wrote to Pennycook’s boss, Angela Rayner, to warn that the new builds, which could be stymied by the Tower of London dispute, are “critical economic infrastructure”.
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which → write → dispute
Ancient versus modern, traditional stewardship challenging future prosperity.
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stewardship → challenge → prosperity
That’s what the battlelines looked like, although the City insisted it wasn’t so.
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it → ’ → what
Tom Sleigh, chairman of the City’s planning committee, said: “This was never a choice between the Tower of London and jobs.
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This → say → London
William the Conqueror started his tower in 1078 in the corner of a city already 1,000 years old, and the two have grown side by side ever since.
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two → start → side
This was the corporation attempting to trump the heritage lot by playing its own, we’re-older-than-you history card.
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This → attempt → card
William the Conqueror and his triumph at Hastings in 1066, that led to a design for a fortified base by the Thames, they claimed, was a newcomer compared with the City’s roots.
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they → lead → roots
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
