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The practice responsible for Westminster council鈥檚 disastrous Marble Arch Mound attraction has said it should have walked away from the project when the authority lost interest and it was excluded from construction phase talks.

Rotterdam-based architect MVRDV said the project, which went through numerous design changes and became a laughing stock when it opened before it was finished last summer, should have been a celebration of London but became a 鈥渓oveless installation鈥�.

Conservative-run Westminster鈥檚 deputy leader Mervyn Caplan resigned from his position over the mound debacle in August last year. Last month, it emerged that the official who oversaw much of the project 鈥� former Mecanoo director Elad Eisenstein 鈥� was on a salary of 拢220,000. The figure is almost 拢3,000 a year more than the authority鈥檚 chief executive.

In a blog setting out its side of the mound saga, MVRDV said it had 鈥渘ever before experienced such nonchalance and laxity鈥� with its design work and found it 鈥渋nexplicable鈥� that the project鈥檚 budget had spiralled from 拢1.25m to 拢6m.

The practice said its original design was for a 25m-high viewing platform that would rise directly above Marble Arch, offering both unprecedented views of John Nash鈥檚 grade I-listed structure and Hyde Park beyond.

However, MVRDV said concerns expressed by Historic England and English Heritage led to a change of plan over the 鈥渕ound鈥� proposals adjacent to Marble Arch, proposals which became steeper as site constraints emerged.

The practice said that Westminster appointed contractor FM Conway to realise the project and 鈥渂arely looked at it again鈥�.

MVRDV said that although FM Conway brought the practice on board as lead designer, over time it was 鈥渟ystematically excluded from communication鈥� with the executive architect and landscape architect.

鈥淭hrough a mixture of budget constraints and a lack of communication, many details concerning the mound鈥檚 construction were decided without our involvement,鈥� it said.

鈥淎 few pictures of the progress of the installation and the claim that everything was going marvellously was all that we had to work with in Rotterdam. Travel was not possible due to covid measures, so the team could not check progress on site, and frequent communication efforts from our side toward WCC were increasingly ignored.鈥�

MVRDV said the decision to open the Marble Arch Mound to visitors 鈥� at a cost of 拢8 per person 鈥� before it had even been completed was 鈥渘onsensical鈥� and nothing short of a disaster鈥�. Some plants on the mound鈥檚 slopes had dried out through lack of water, while large sections were covered with plastic. Meanwhile the mound鈥檚 lift was exposed at the top, sticking out 鈥渓ike a sore thumb鈥� in the words of the practice.

鈥淎s a practice, we have rarely seen such a loveless execution of our designs,鈥� it said.

MVRDV said the 拢10,000 fee it was offered by Westminster for its initial design work on the project represented a significant loss because it did not even cover staff time. The practice said it did not normally work under such conditions but had chosen to make an exception because of the pandemic. It added that its retention by FM Conway had involved a 拢40,000 fee.

鈥淧erhaps we should not have worked for a fee so low that it allowed the client to sidestep the usual procedures,鈥� it said, referring to the fact that a competition was not required for the 拢10,000 contract.

It added: 鈥淧erhaps when we were pushed out of the construction process we could have stepped out because we couldn鈥檛 guarantee the project鈥檚 quality. This is certainly our greatest sin: we should have ended our participation precisely at that moment.

鈥淔inally, perhaps when the criticism began to mount, we could have voiced our own concerns, instead of complying with WCC鈥檚 clear preference for ambiguity.鈥�

Westminster council said 250,000 people had visited the Marble Arch Mound before it closed for the last time.

鈥淲e are grateful to MVRDV for their designs and the hard work that they put into the mound project,鈥� it said.

FM Conway declined to comment.