72-storey Paddington skyscraper scrapped amid fierce opposition
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddes...rce-opposition
Paddington skyscraper scrapped after fierce opposition
Protests from Skyline and Historic England prompt developers to withdraw planning application for 72-storey tower in west London
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian
Campaigners have declared victory after developers withdrew plans for a 254m (830ft) tower in west London dubbed the “Paddington Shard”.
The Skyline campaign had opposed the proposal to build Paddington Place, also nicknamed the “skinny Shard” or the “Paddington Pole”, because of the impact it would have on views in the capital.
Irvine Sellar – the developer behind the 306m Shard in Southwark – used the same architect, Renzo Piano, to design the 72-storey skyscraper. “We believe this exciting proposal will tap into the potential of Paddington and will prove to be a major catalyst for the continuing enhancement of the area, especially Praed Street – in much the same way that the Shard did for London Bridge,” the developer said when the proposal was announced last October.
Westminster council said on Saturday that Sellar would reconsider the plans following concerns raised by campaigners and Historic England. The council’s planning committee had been due to vote on the scheme on 8 March.
As much as I am not too much a fan of skyscrapers as I was in the past, this one was actually quite sleek and nice for a skyscraper.
That said, good this has been knocked back. It is in completely the wrong place. If you're going to allow skyscrapers, they ought to be clustered together rather than allowed to spring up everywhere which creates vast empty valleys and holes in the skyline: sort of what we saw with 1960s highrises.
One thing I have noticed with skylines is how blessed cities are that have a waterfront (Liverpool, Hong Kong, London [to an extent]). Really allows for an impressive cut off point where skyscrapers can rise from the waters edge rather than appear in the middle of an inland 'mound' of buildings.
Thoughts?
