Today, Friday 13th December, the City of London Corporation will convene via the Planning Applications subcommittee for the last time this year to determine two high-rise office-led developments in the aforementioned historic business district. Both schemes generated immense controversy and numerous design revisions before being considered by the committee later this morning.
1 Undershaft
The application relates to one of the last sites within one of the Eastern Cluster suitable for high-rise development, including a 28-storey recently vacant office tower, St Helens Square, and the surrounding carriageway. In 2019 planning permission was granted for the previous design iteration, with works underway to implement the permission including the unusual method of demolition owning its unique construction method.
The planning application is submitted on behalf of Aroland Holdings Limited which has appointed Eric Parry Architects to produce design and access proposals for the site.
In July of this year, the same committee the first version of the revised scheme (the 2023 scheme), which comprises the demolition of the existing building and its replacement with a new 73-story office tower to include a viewing gallery, education space, a publicly
accessible garden, a food and beverage offer, and cultural space. The scheme was revised in response to post-pandemic needs, revised demands of prospective office tenants and the City’s changing policy context.
Objections from members of the public, local stakeholders, and heritage bodies relating to the design, impact on designated heritage assets, and impact, with particular concern it would have on the immediately adjacent St Helens Square. Voting members considered the application and voted to defer the decision, a motion was passed that required the applicant to consider the matters raised during the application, notably the minor adjustments about the ground floor public realm.
The scheme on floor 12 and above is relatively unchanged internally and externally, the changes include the increasing of the public space at St Helen’s Square as well as amendments to the way the building is accessed for visitors to the educational and lower publicly accessible space.
The scheme would provide 153,602 sq.m (GIA) of commercial office floorspace which would be flexible and sustainable Grade A floorspace for circa 9,447 FTE City workers. The site is central to the City’s growth modeling and would deliver nearly 6.53% of the required commercial space to meet the projected economic and employment growth demand until 2040.
The viewing gallery and education space would be operated in partnership with the London Museum. As well as providing breathtaking views of London, these spaces would enable the Museum to deliver learning programs to complement the exhibit-focused activities that would take place at the new London Museum site in Smithfield which is currently set to open in 2026.
The also has a draft Mayoral CIL and S106 City of London Corporation Liability of £21,529,021.60 and £22,760,308.60 respectively, within the draft obligation for the planning authority also contains an affordable housing liability of £6,499,152.00.
Bury House 1 – 4, 31 – 34 Bury Street
The second of the two applications seeking permission for a high-rise office-led scheme relates to a site located in the northeast corner of Bury Street, northwest of Creechurch Lane and it comprises three buildings, namely Holland House, Renown House, and Bury House. The site lies within the recently designated Creechurch Conservation Area, which includes all three buildings. Holland House is a Grade II* listed building. The applicant is WELPUT and has appointed architects Stiff + Trevillion to produce design and access proposals for the site.
The first proposal seeking the demolition of the building at 31 Bury Street and the construction of a 48-storey building was previously refused under the terms of the application 20/00848/FULEIA. The reasons for refusal included the adverse impact of the development on the setting and amenities of the Grade 1 listed Bevis Marks Synagogue because of the overbearing and overshadowing impact of the development on the courtyard of the Synagogue. It was considered that the public benefits of the development did not overcome the harm identified to the heritage assets.
The current proposal incorporates three buildings, as noted above, and not only Bury House. In terms of the tower element of the proposal though, this has been amended by reducing the height of the building by 19 meters, and by setting back the top eight floors, at level thirty-seven to reduce the massing towards the termination point of the tower.
The redevelopment of the site is covered by two applications; one application for planning permission (ref. no.: 24/00021/FULEIA) and one application for listed building consent (ref. no: 2400011/LBC). Planning permission is now sought for the demolition of Bury House and
erection of a new building comprising of 4 basement levels, ground plus 43 storeys; partial demolition of Holland House and Renown House; restoration of existing and erection of four storey extension resulting in the ground plus 8 storeys at Holland House and three storey extension resulting in the ground plus 5 storeys at Renown House and interconnection of the three buildings. The use of the
buildings would be office, including affordable workspace, 3 flexible retail/café, and flexible community/education/cultural/amenity Sui Generis uses.
Listed building consent is sought for the restoration works to Holland House including removal and reinstatement of external faience together with the removal and replacement of existing concrete beam; partial demolition to facilitate interconnection with the neighbouring proposed new building and the construction of a four-storey roof extension resulting in the ground plus 8 storeys.
As with the scheme at 1 Undershaft, the scheme has been subject to numerous letters of objection from the same including the statutory consultees alongside other built heritage and conservation organisations and civil society organisations. This scheme has also received extensive criticism from across the Jewish community including an op-ed in the Jewish Chronicle.
Concerns are in regards to the scale, massing, and design of the development and its perceived impact on designated heritage assets, including the Tower of London World Heritage Site, the Bevis Marks Synagogue, and the Creechurch Conservation Area, and concerns
around the ability of the Synagogue’s congregation to use the Synagogue and its courtyard as a place of worship due to the daylight, and overshadowing impacts and because of the reduced visibility of the night sky and the moon.
The site is within the City’s growth modeling and would deliver 1.5% of the required commercial space to meet projected economic and employment growth demand until 2040. This quantity of floorspace would significantly contribute to maintaining the City’s position as
the world’s leading international, financial and professional services business centre.
The proposed office floorplates would range between 350 and 580sqm for businesses of 50-60 people supporting smaller, start-up businesses, providing office tenants with their own private entrance and dedicated floor rather than sharing with other tenants, which will ensure that the floorspace is attractive to a range of potential occupiers.
There is currently a draft Mayoral CIL 2 (MCIL2) obligation of £4,781,576.53 as well as a mayoral CIL of £5,122,573.90.
