the pLans

Planning application for redevelopment of one silk street with siamese twin towers submitted

Lipton Rogers has submitted a planning application for two tall buildings of 20 and 21 floors on the site, a building more than 63% larger than the present one, and in parts at least twice its height. This over 80.5 metre high wall, visible from a wide number of vantage points, will smother the world-renowned Grade II listed Barbican Estate with its arts centre and conservatory. It will loom over its Grade II* listed landscape and gardens to the south, as well as the Brewery Conservation Area to the north. It will spoil London’s iconic Barbican skyline.

The Barbican is London’s Grade II listed Brutalist masterpiece, with the trinity of towers at its heart.

A visionary, prize-winning building is needed at 1 Silk Street that enhances and works with its surroundings, complementing the Barbican. A building everyone can be proud of, good enough to be listed in its own right someday.

The anticipated proposal, based on Lipton Rogers’ last public consultation, is an oversized bulk of an office building squeezing out space and light. The sheer scale will cause substantial harm to its setting. It will fundamentally change the character of Silk Street. It will visually intrude and overshadow all its surroundings.