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The City of London鈥檚 head of design has denied the Walkie Talkie is a Trojan horse which could open the door to a new cluster of skyscrapers.

But Gwyn Richards admitted his team is looking at the possibility of approving more towers around it 鈥渢o make it less strident on the skyline鈥�.

They are in the middle of a major piece of research modelling the effects of extending the existing 鈥渆astern cluster鈥�, notably towards the Walkie Talkie in the south.

This could result in a handful of sites being identified for new towers near 20 Fenchurch Street which would minimise its dominance.

They would be taller than two 鈥渕id-rise鈥� towers which have already been approved in the immediate area 鈥� Eric Parry鈥檚 120 Fenchurch Street and Farshid Moussavi鈥檚 130 Fenchurch Street 鈥� which are 15 and 17 storeys respectively.

The Walkie Talkie was originally approved because of its outlier position, with then City planning chief Peter Rees likening it to the figurehead at the prow of a ship.

Now his replacement, Gwyn Richards, head of design at the City, is arguing it could be 鈥渂etter to bring it into the crowd, to make it less strident on the skyline鈥�.

鈥淪ome of the rationale for 20 Fenchurch Street was that it would be a lone sentinel to give a vantage point looking back at the cluster,鈥� said Richards.

鈥淭hat point of view is not widely shared, talking to stakeholders. A lot of people struggle with that logic. Our work is to look at this more creatively and pull 20 Fenchurch Street back into the cluster so it has a coherent urban form.鈥�

He denied this change of heart made the building a Trojan horse, pointing out that it won planning after two public inquiries. Any expansion of the cluster would still be within the boundary set by the local plan.

鈥淲e want to understand if there鈥檚 potential for perhaps one or two other sites on the western side of Fenchurch Street. We are not talking about a wholescale wall of tall buildings.

鈥淧lanning is always an evolving process. It鈥檚 material for us to assess where there鈥檚 potential capacity,鈥� he said, referring to the demand for more office space in the Square Mile.

鈥淚t鈥檚 getting our ducks in order rather than making a kneejerk reaction [to a planning application]. We want to give a degree of clarity early on to applicants.鈥�

Richards called it 鈥減roper planning鈥�. His team has spent two years 3D-modelling the effects of the existing cluster and any potential expansion 鈥� within the boundary set by the local plan.

They are looking at the effect on views, conservation and World Heritage areas, public realm, the micro-climate 鈥� in particular wind 鈥� and daylight, among other factors.

He said the cluster was behaving 鈥渓ike a huddled penguin鈥�, pushing the wind around its periphery 鈥� on Bishopsgate and Fenchurch Street, for example.

鈥淲e wanted to do a 360-degree assessment of where the cluster could expand,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fairly huge undertaking. We hope to get clarity of approach in the next year or so.鈥�