CO-RE鈥檚 for Aviva Investors to replace 1950s tower on the edge of the City鈥檚 eastern cluster

London developer CO-RE has revealed its plans for a new 31-storey office tower in the City of London designed by Wilkinson Eyre.

CO-RE, working for Aviva Investors, has published the first images of the 130 Fenchurch Street scheme ahead of an initial round of public consultation starting tomorrow.

The site, located on the southern border of the City鈥檚 main cluster of towers, is occupied by a 16-storey 1950s building, Fountain House, which currently lies vacant.

130 Fenchurch full view

Wilkinson Eyre鈥檚 designs for the scheme, published ahead of a first round of consultation starting tomorrow

This will be demolished to make way for the new tower, which will contain office space on upper levels, a cultural space with public terraces at mid-height and retail units at street level.

It is Aviva鈥檚 second proposal for the site following a previous plan for a 17-storey tower drawn up by Farshid Moussavi Architecture which was mothballed four years ago.

>> See also: Aviva planning to nearly double the height of its planned City tower

A spokesperson for the project said Wilkinson Eyre鈥檚 rethink of the scheme, which is nearly double the height and floorspace of the previous proposals, would improve the site鈥檚 streetscape and public amenities.

It is also aiming to contribute to the Square Mile鈥檚 target to build 1.2 million sq m of office space by 2040 and its Destination City ambition, which aims to boost the City鈥檚 leisure offering.

Aviva Investors鈥 head of development and real estate Ben Littman said the tower would be a 鈥渟howpiece鈥 in a part of the City undergoing rapid development.

鈥淔enchurch Street is such a dynamic area in the City of London and arguably the epicentre of development activity in the capital,鈥 he said. 

鈥淥ur proposals for 130 Fenchurch Street are designed to breathe new life into what is a tired, inefficient and outdated asset, and create a scheme which we think will be a showpiece in this exciting part of the City.鈥

The first round of consultation begins at midday tomorrow and will be open to submissions from members of the public until 3 January. A second round will be held in early 2025, with demolition of the site鈥檚 existing building set to start in early 2026 if the plans are approved.

Aviva appointed Wilkinson Eyre on the project more than four years ago but it was stalled until last July, when it brought in CO-RE, which is still waiting to find out if its ITV Studios redevelopment can go ahead, to mastermind the new scheme.

Aviva鈥檚 portfolio of schemes in the City include One Liverpool Street, designed by Eric Parry and being built by Mace, and 101 Moorgate, also being built by Mace, and designed by John Robertson Architects.