Public roof terrace and cultural space proposed for Tower Hill

Proposed scheme as seen from Byward Street.

Plans for the demolition of the existing dated office building of 46-50 Mark Lane, 1-12 Byward Street, and 14-15 Seething Lane referred to as 47-50 Mark Lane have been submitted to the City of London.

An application by developer PBBE Mark Lane B.V for the demolition of the existing building and retention of the existing basement and the construction of a new 11-story building with associated roof terraces, modern office space, and replacement commercial ground floor uses.

47 Mark Lane was originally constructed in two phases in the 1960s, whilst 50 Mark Lane was constructed in the 1990s. The buildings were subsequently refurbished in the early 2000s to create a cohesive façade.

The current site, image credit 47-50 Mark Lane planning application.

Architects 3XN are the architects and lead designers for the project in collaboration with Orms.

Proposed is the doubling of office floorspace better suited to the modern-day office occupier, in addition to the re-provided public house on Seething Lane currently occupied by the chain BrewDog.

The proposed structure whilst operated as one building, will externally appear as four discrete volumes made consistent through architectural detail and materiality with each building topped by a contemporary interpretation of a two-storey mansard in reference to the neighboring 2 Seething Lane.

A new addition to this site is the proposed Heritage and Cultural Learning Centre of 325 square meters, which will front onto Byward Street. Whilst the operator model is currently being developed, there is the intention for it to be operated by a partnership between a private commercial operator and non-profit organisations. Royal Historic Palaces are the stakeholders involved at this initial stage. This has been initiated as a result of the local planning authority’s The Cultural Mile planning initiative.

Finally in addition to a new heritage and cultural centre at the ground level and public access to the roof-top terraces, offering views towards the Tower of London and Tower Bridge during out-of-office hours. Managed in all likelihood in a similar way to one goes through at 120 Fenchurch Street, free at the point of entry but with bag and identity verification.

View from the free but managed publicly accessible roof garden

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