Six high-rise projects in Stratford could be in jeopardy due to a historic viewing corridor from Richmond Park.
Architects Allies and Morrison have confirmed their proposals for 30- and 40-storey towers, as part of the Olympicopolis proposals, are to be redesigned and reduced in height.
This comes soon after conservation charity Friends of Richmond Park called on London mayor Sadiq Khan to halt the construction of the 42-storey Manhattan Loft Gardens, E20.
Harry Handelsman’s double-cantilevered skyscraper is under construction and unlikely to be demolished. However, other schemes which haven’t yet got off the ground or through planning could be at risk of being curtailed.
Khan has vowed to stop views of St Paul’s Cathedral being hampered by new skyscrapers, saying he wants to introduce a wider consultation process before planning permission is granted for tall building.
According to Architects’ Journal, the number of homes proposed across Allies and Morrison’s two towers, and therefore also the height of the towers, was determined in order to help finance and support the rest of the scheme.
A new Sadler’s Wells theatre and a new campus for the London College of Fashion are planned as part of the Olympicopolis project. The V&A Museum and the Smithsonian Institute are also joining together to make a new permanent gallery − the Smithsonian’s first outside the US.
Plans to submit the application have been pushed back to May 2017. A more dense, but lower rise, scheme would seem likely in order for numbers to stack up.
