Julia Barfield says thinking behind City tower project is a 鈥榤ystery鈥�

The creator of the London Eye and Brighton鈥檚 i360 has expressed bafflement at Foster + Partners鈥� Tulip proposals for a 305m tall tourist attraction in the Square Mile.

Marks Barfield director Julia Barfield 鈥� who worked for Foster for the best part of a decade before starting her own practice with late husband David Marks 鈥� said the project, drawn up for billionaire banker Jacob J Safra, did not appear to be answering a need.

Speaking at last week鈥檚 BD Live event, Barfield said the proposed structure, which features a 12-storey attraction perched on a concrete shaft a few metres from Foster鈥檚 Gherkin, appeared to borrow directly from other tall structures, including her own.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what Norman鈥檚 doing there. It鈥檚 a mystery to me,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hen we did the London Eye it was answering a need. There was no place where people could view the city from a height, unless you went up to the top of St Paul鈥檚.

鈥淵ou could say it wasn鈥檛 a desperate need, but it was providing a platform at a height so that people could see the city for the first time from a new perspective.

鈥淣ow there are three of those, with the Shard and the Walkie Talkie [as well as the Eye]. So do people really need another one? I don鈥檛 know.鈥�

View of Foster & Partner's Tulip proposal, seen from Whitechapel High Street

View of Foster & Partner鈥檚 Tulip proposal, seen from Whitechapel High Street

Last week  proposed for the Tulip鈥檚 three 鈥減etals鈥� to interfere with radar used to monitor aircraft.

A letter from the airport鈥檚 technical operations coordinator said the assessment needed to be authorised 鈥渂y the Local Planning Authority having consulted with London City Airport and NATS En Route Limited鈥�.

Foster鈥檚 Tulip scheme would deliver just under 3,000sq m of new space and has been described as a response to Safra鈥檚 inability to create a visitor attraciton on the upper storeys of the Gherkin.

As well as the main tower, the planning application also includes a new entrance pavilion with public roof terrace and a dedicated education centre for the capital鈥檚 state school children.

Construction could start in 2020 and be completed in 2025, said Safra. The City of London has indicated that it plans to determine the application by March next year.