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Tulip tower: Government rejects plans for London skyscraper

Foster + Partners Tulip tower drawingFoster + Partners
The 1,000 ft tower was planned for 20 Bury Street, beside the Gherkin tower

The Tulip skyscraper will not be built after a government panel found it to be "poor and unsympathetic to the historical context" of the capital.

The 1,000ft (305m) tower was initially approved by the City of London Corporation, but the plans were rejected by London's mayor.

An appeal was launched by those behind the tower but it has been dismissed by the planning inspectorate.

Sadiq Khan said he was delighted with the result.

However the mayor added he was "disappointed the case went to appeal in the first place, incurring unnecessary costs to the taxpayer".

Foster + Partners Tulip tower drawingFoster + Partners
Gondolas would have taken visitors on an eight-minute loop of the tower

The skyscraper had been proposed to be built on Bury Street, beside the Gherkin tower.

The 210-page report from the government's planning inspectorate lays out the reasons for dismissing the appeal, which had been launched by architect Foster + Partners and their client Jacob Safra.

Reasons for rejecting the plans included:

  • The setting would harm views of nearby world heritage sites including the Tower of London
  • It would stand out as "different and less cohesive" beside other local buildings
  • Using vast quantities of reinforced concrete for the foundations and lift shaft was "highly unsustainable"

Mr Khan previously cited a number of concerns raised in a London Review Panel report in 2019, which said it would harm the skyline and had few public benefits.

A spokesman for the mayor's office said: "Sadiq has long argued that the proposed tower would be little more than a concrete lift shaft with a viewing gallery at the top, offering very little in terms of benefits for Londoners, with no new office space or housing."