黑洞社区

Eric Parry Architects鈥� proposals for a 73-storey office block that would be the tallest in the City of London have been recommended for approval by corporation planners.

The 1 Undershaft scheme, drawn up for Singaporean developer Aroland Holdings, would occupy the site of the St Helen鈥檚 office block 鈥� originally named the Commercial Union building, next to Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners鈥� Leadenhall 黑洞社区.

While the vast majority of the new building鈥檚 154,100sq m floorspace is earmarked for office use, the scheme also includes two floors designated as public viewing galleries, as well as 2,178sq m of retail space and 1,220sq m of restaurant space.

Last month it emerged that Parry鈥檚 1 Undershaft plans had been lowered by 5m to comply with airspace concerns flaggged by aviation authorities, giving the new building a height of 304.94m. The new height will make the tower just over 70m taller than the Leadenhall 黑洞社区, and 10m taller than PLP鈥檚 tower at 22 Bishopsgate which got the green light from its backers last month.

A report to members of the City of London鈥檚 Planning and Transportation Committee said objections to the Undershaft scheme had also included concerns over its impact on views of the Tower of London and St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral, the St Helen鈥檚 Place conservation area, and reduced daylight for nearby structures.

City planners said one member of the public had also objected to the loss of the St Helen鈥檚 office block, which was designed by Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership and completed in 1969.

Supporting the approval recommendation, the officers鈥� report said the Parry scheme鈥檚 impact on the setting of conservation areas, listed buildings, and strategic views had 鈥渂een assessed and is considered acceptable鈥�.

It said: 鈥淲ith the development of a cluster of high buildings it is inevitable that some distant and local views would change and that the setting of heritage assets would be altered.

鈥淭he proposal, due to its scale and height, would be visible in a large number of views but, as outlined in the report, would not cause harm to these views.鈥�

Officers said the provision of two of the building鈥檚 upper storeys as free-of-charge public viewing space was 鈥渁n important contribution to the public benefit of the scheme鈥�. They added that negotiations with the Museum of London over the galleries鈥� operation were still ongoing.

The report said the tower鈥檚 design was appropriately 鈥渃alm and restrained鈥� for a building of such a scale.

鈥淭he proposal鈥檚 design would complement other tall buildings in the cluster,鈥� it said.

鈥淭he scale and height of the proposal is appropriate as it would introduce a vertical emphasis to the centre of the cluster of towers in key views and would assist in consolidating the cluster enhancing its profile on the skyline.鈥�

Officers added that the proposals also had public-realm benefits, as Parry鈥檚 design effectively raised the building above its plot, enabling the public realm 鈥渢o extend across the site and under the building鈥�, and featured a lower concourse 鈥渟imilar in function to Broadgate Circle or the Rockefeller Centre in New York鈥�.

The City of London鈥檚 Planning and Transportation Committee meets to discuss the proposal on November 28.