Developer's Case for City Tower is a Tall Storey, Says EH

View From City Hall with 20 Fenchurch St At a recent Public Inquiry into the tall building proposals for 20 Fenchurch Street in the City of London, English Heritage's opening speech dismissed the economic arguments that are being made for the 160 metre-high tower and demonstrates the damage it will cause to the capital’s skyline, the Tower of London World Heritage Site and the streets and conservation areas of the City.

In September 2006 English Heritage made strong objections to the Fenchurch Street scheme and advised the Corporation of London to refuse planning permission. Although the Corporation’s own planning officers acknowledged the harm the tower would cause to London’s historic environment, unsubstantiated economic arguments for the need for such a tall building prevailed and the Corporation’s planning committee decided that it wished to approve the scheme.

View From City Hall  View From City Hall With Consented Buildings and 20 Fenchurch St. Paddy Pugh, Head of Advice for London at English Heritage, said: “This would become London’s ugliest and most oppressive building. Londoners have not even been asked whether they want this building in their city. The harm it would cause to the historic environment outweighs any benefits the additional floorspace could bring to London’s economy.
 
"Tall buildings can work well in the right place. However, it would be both reckless and short-sighted to consider only the economic benefits they may provide, without taking into account their impact on the quality and significance of the surrounding area. This is exactly what the Corporation of London has done and why we have objected to this scheme all along. "

Research commissioned by English Heritage from property consultants G L Hearn will demonstrate that there is already a sufficient supply of floorspace in the pipeline and that London’s status as a world financial centre will not be jeopardised if the 77,000 sq m scheme does not go ahead.  Paul Drury of the Paul Drury Partnership will give evidence supporting English Heritage’s view that the tower, which thickens significantly as it rises, overhanging the streets below, has simply been designed to maximise the amount of “superior floorspace” at the top of the building.  His evidence states: “the proposed building would be an ungainly and brutally dominant expression of commercial floorspace that would severely harm the character of London’s historic environment.”

View From Waterloo Bridge  View From Waterloo Bridge With Consented buildings and 20 Fenchurch St Paul Drury will also argue that the development would cause serious harm to the historic skyline of London from important viewpoints such as Waterloo Bridge, which provides what is arguably the best panorama of the City skyline.  “The proposed building”, he asserts, “would appear to the right of the City’s Eastern Cluster, larger, more monolithic and more prominent than St Paul’s Cathedral which stands to the left, and so would both change and harm the character of the view”. He will show how the proposed development would harm the setting of the Tower of London World Heritage Site by intruding into views from the Tower’s Inner Ward and cause damage to listed buildings and conservation areas in the City.

The Secretary of State called the scheme in for her own determination at a public inquiry. English Heritage has been particularly asked to advise her on:

1. the appropriateness of this location for a very tall building;
2. the impact on the Tower of London World Heritage Site;
3. the impact on the skyline of London, including views of St Paul’s Cathedral;
4. the impact of the design on the historic environment; and
5. whether the proposals comply with relevant planning policy.

For more information please contact Anya Matthews or Lindsay Douglas, English Heritage Corporate Communications, on 020 7973 3372 or 020 7973 3293.

English Heritage’s new views studies and before and after pictures can be found on www.papicselect.com in a folder marked “20 Fenchurch Street”.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Robert McCracken QC, a leading planning and environmental barrister, is representing  English Heritage at the Inquiry. 

Patrick Pugh, Head of Advice and Grants for London Region at English Heritage, will be providing a corporate overview for English Heritage at the Inquiry. 

Paul Drury, of the Paul Drury Partnership, is acting as English Heritage’s main witness. Paul Drury has been a Chartered Surveyor since 1969, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London since 1982, and a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation since its foundation in 1997.

David Napier of G L Hearn Property Consultants will be EH’s third witness.