Decision comes weeks after 55 Gracechurch Street was OK鈥檇

A 33-storey tower Historic England said should be turned down because its design wasn鈥檛 good enough has been given the green light by City of London planners.

The scheme at 70 Gracechurch Street has been drawn up by KPF for Hong Kong firm Tenacity.

KPF_70_Gracechurch St_Gracechurch Street approach漏Pixelflakes SMALL

Source: Pixelflakes

KPF is behind the design at 70 Gracechurch Street

Its approval this morning comes a few weeks after another scheme at nearby 55 Gracechurch Street by the same developer was also given the thumbs-up.

The tower at 70 Gracechurch Street will see more than 1,000 long stay and short stay cycle parking spaces added and a public gallery and winter garden installed at levels 29 and 30.

The site is currently occupied by a 10-storey building completed in 2001, comprising a Marks & Spencer department store on the ground floor with office space above.

It was previously home to a 26-storey building designed by Richard Seifert at the end of the 1960s. It was a headquarters for Barclays Bank, who moved out in the mid-1990s, before it was knocked down in 1998.

KPF鈥檚 original plan was for a 228m tall building but this was scaled back to 155m following discussions with City planners and Historic England last year. Instead, the submitted plan is for a scheme featuring 鈥渢hree interconnected slender tower elements, which taper towards the top鈥�.

Historic England had said KPF鈥檚 design will also harm views of St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral as well as lead to such a loss of light at nearby Leadenhall Market that 鈥渋t could have a negative effect on the market鈥檚 future sustainability鈥�.

Its principal inspector of historic buildings and areas, Michael Dunn, added: 鈥淭he prominence of the proposal at No. 70 Gracechurch Street [鈥 demands a very high quality design response to its context. We question whether the proposed design is of such quality.鈥�

Consultants working on the scheme include QS Alinea, structural engineer Robert Bird and MEP engineer DSA.

Fletcher Priest鈥檚 plan for a 32-storey building at 55 Gracechurch Street was given the green light after complaints from neighbours that it will blight their daylight and damage their occupiers鈥� health fell on deaf ears.

Consultants working on this scheme include heritage specialist Montagu Evans, QS Alinea and structural and facade engineer AKT II.

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