New skyscraper approved in City of London despite objections – Construction News

Plans have been approved for a 36-storey tower at 50 Fenchurch Street in the City of London, despite concerns over the impact of its views on city landmarks.

The City of London Corporation's planning committee unanimously approved the plans for the new Square Mile skyscraper, ignoring an objection from Historic Royal Palaces that the building would be intrusive on the protected views of the Tower of London. The committee said the 150 metre-tall building would not impact on the protected views.

The building will deliver a 36-fold increase in public space on the ground-floor level, in comparison with the existing seven-storey office block currently on the same site. It will include a public roof garden on the 10th floor, and will deliver 60,000 square metres of office space and 800 square metres of retail space. Plans also include more than 1,200 cycle parking spaces, and the relocation of a 12th-century chapel crypt, called Lambes, that lies below the current building to a new location in the free public exhibition at lower ground floor level.

The new tower is set to include living walls across 30 storeys to help improve biodiversity and mitigate air and noise pollution.

City of London Corporation planning and transportation committee chair Alastair Moss said: The new 50 Fenchurch Street building will be of the highest-quality design and has a number of innovative features, including extensive urban greening all the way into the higher floors and a new public space. It provides a significant increase in flexible office floorspace, meeting one of the primary objectives of the Citys Local Plan and London Plan policies.

Historic Royal Palaces has been contacted for comment.

Last year Christopher Hayward, the previous chair of the City's planning committee,told Construction News the corporation wanted to encourage more tall buildings and expected the space between20 Fenchurch Street (commonly known as the Walkie Talkie) and the Leadenhall Building (the Cheesegrater) to be filled with a series of skyscrapers.

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New skyscraper approved in City of London despite objections - Construction News