Government advisor tells City to throw out Brookfield鈥檚 54-storey tower submitted in September

The government鈥檚 heritage advisor has called for Brookfield鈥檚 99 Bishopsgate tower to be refused due to fears it would harm views of St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral.

Historic England, an influential consultee on major planning applications, said it 鈥渟trongly objects鈥� to the 54-storey scheme on the edge of the City of London鈥檚 eastern cluster of towers, which was submitted for planning in September.

99 Bishopsgate sept 3

The tower is described by RSHP as a 鈥榯ransitional鈥� building blending the cluster鈥檚 tall buildings with the neighbouring conservation area

Designed by RSHP, it is described by the practice in planning documents as a 鈥渢ransitional鈥� building blending the townscape character of the cluster with the mainly brick buildings of the neighbouring conservation area.

But Historic England said it would create a 鈥渃liff edge鈥� on the border of the cluster which would harm protected views of the grade I-listed St Paul鈥檚, which is considered the most important heritage asset in the City.

It added that allowing the allowing this steep edge to the cluster, rather than a gradual increase in height as has been envisaged under the City鈥檚 planning guidance, would 鈥済reatly diminish the townscape benefit of clustering tall buildings as a means of protecting London鈥檚 historic environment, which is one of its core purposes鈥�. 

While RSHP鈥檚 designs include a chamfered corner on the top edge of the tower which aims to 鈥渁cknowledge鈥� strategic views of the cathedral from Waterloo Bridge, a prime tourist spot, Historic England said this feature 鈥渙ffers little mitigation鈥� and the building鈥檚 impact on the significance of the cathedral would still be 鈥渕ost damaging鈥�.

The scheme has also been criticised by a London Review Panel, an independent body funded by the Greater London Authority which provides advice on major planning applications.

At a meeting attended by the tower鈥檚 lead architect Graham Stirk and Brookfield president Dan Scanlon, the panel said it did not support the complete demolition of the existing 1970s building and urged the approach to be 鈥渞econsidered鈥�.

The plans would see the site鈥檚 existing 28-storey tower, which serves as the UK headquarters of Multiplex, set to build the tower, flattened to street level and the retention of its concrete raft and piles, which would form the base of the replacement scheme.

The project team for 99 Bishopsgate includes T&T Alinea on costs, AKT II on structural engineering, Ramboll on MEP services, Atelier 10 on sustainability, Momentum on transport, GIA on sunlight and wind, Trium Environmental Consulting on environment and Andy Sturgeon as landscape architect.

Planning consultant DP9, communications consultant Kanda Consulting and heritage and townscape consultant The Townscape Consultancy are also on the team.

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