City of London planning chiefs are expected to wave through a proposed 30-storey tower on Gracechurch Street, EC3, despite strong objections from heritage groups and the neighbouring Southwark Council.
The City of London Corporation’s planning committee will meet next week to decide on the future of the proposed 410,000 sq ft office building put forward by Patrick Wong’s Tenacity Group.
Tenacity hopes to demolish the existing nine-level building, which it bought for £69m in 2018 and is mainly let to insurer Royal London.
Officials have recommended that the plans are given the green light, despite “serious concerns” expressed by some respondents over the site at 55 Gracechurch Street.
Heritage organisations including Historic England objected to the plans, saying the new block would affect views of the nearby Monument, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and the 18th Century Church of St Mary Woolnoth.
Michael Dunn, principal inspector of historic buildings and areas at Historic England, wrote that the tower would “cause marked harm” to views of the Christopher Wren-designed Monument from the south side.
Meanwhile, Southwark Council planning officer Victoria Lewis said the proposed building would hurt views of Tower Bridge, as well as “adding to the visual clutter and extending the tall buildings cluster at the City further to the west”.
More objections were received from the Georgian Group, the Victorian Society and the Conservation Area Advisory Committee. Historic Royal Palaces, which runs the Tower of London, did not object to the plans.
The corporation’s planning report’s authors acknowledged the harm to local landmarks, but said it would be “less than substantial”.
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