The government has rejected plans to build the Tulip tower, a proposed 305m viewing platform in the heart of the Square Mile.
The Tulip was set to be built at 20 Bury Street, EC3, adjacent to the Gherkin, but Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, has dismissed the plan and refused planning permission.
Named after its long thin base with a rounded dome at the top, the building was set to be a viewing platform, bar, restaurant and events space. It was to be developed by billionaire Jacob Safra and designed by Foster + Partners.
However, it attracted fierce controversy in the City, after London mayor Sadiq Khan refused planning permission in July 2019.
After that, an appeal was launched by the building’s developers, with a final verdict from the government pushed back from earlier this year.
Now Gove, who replaced former housing secretary Robert Jenrick in a cabinet reshuffle in September, has “decided to dismiss the appeal and refuse planning permission”, according to documents published today.
A key factor in the decision was the chance that the Tulip would obscure views of the Tower of London, and potentially put its World Heritage status at risk.
Government documents outlining the decision said it would “cause considerable harm to the significance” of the Tower of London.
They added that the tourism gains brought by the Tulip would be “relatively modest by comparison with the City as a whole and with other nearby provisions.”
A spokesperson for Khan said: “The mayor is delighted that the secretary of state has dismissed this appeal outright, agreeing that the Tulip tower would be the wrong type of building for central London and that it would have a negative long-term impact on London’s skyline.
“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.
“He is disappointed the case went to appeal in the first place, incurring unnecessary costs to the taxpayer.”
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