City Approves 24 Storey Office Tower That Steals Sunlight From Middlesex Street Estate

Councillor Graeme Harrower On The Planning Committee Approval

On 16 November the City of London Corporation’s Planning Committee approved an application to build a 24 storey office tower at 115-123 Houndsditch that will (literally) overshadow one of the Corporation’s own social housing estates.

Local residents raised powerful objections to the application at the committee meeting: see from 18:46 to 30:52 on this official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brtTcuQIUW0.

A minority of councillors on the committee spoke against the application (particularly at 58:58, 1:07:54, 1:13:25 and 1:17:37). They pointed out that it contravened the Corporation’s own policies on office development, tall buildings, massing and bulk, daylight and sunlight (including the cumulative effect of high rise developments) and sustainability.

The application was nevertheless approved by 11 votes to 6.

Extraordinarily, the planning officers and the 11 members who voted in favour didn’t deny that the application contravened these policies. In fact, none of those 11 members spoke at all, except one who merely had a query about the terms of leases.

This decision, and the way it was taken, may shock outsiders, but not those familiar with this committee. It habitually rubber stamps office developments, however much they contravene the City’s own planning policies, and whatever harm they do to the City’s own residents and heritage. See this petition, which remains open for signing: http://chng.it/Y8H6M7DsHf.

It took the intervention of both the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State to refuse the application for the Tulip, which the City’s Planning Committee had approved, putting in peril the world heritage status of the Tower of London. (See 1:05:22 for a remarkable piece of developer disinformation.)

Someone needs to intervene now to stop the City Corporation degrading the quality of the lives of its own residents for the sake of its friendship with office developers. It is indeed their friend: in every normal year, the City’s Planning Committee hosts a sumptuous dinner at the City’s expense for the property development community. The next one will be held at the Guildhall on 12 January.

The person to intervene in this case could be:

• the Court of Common Council of the City Corporation, to which the application can be referred and which has the power to refuse it, or
• the Secretary of State, who has the power to call in the application and determine it himself.

Both options are being pursued.

Graeme Harrower

ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY BY RECLAIM EC1

The villains behind the Houndsditch Tower plan will be familiar to many readers of this blog. Reclaim EC1 began as a response to overdevelopment in the north-west of the City and just beyond it – and the building we were most strongly objecting to was The Denizen AKA Clarendon Court AKA The Turd, which stole sunlight from social housing tenants on the Golden Lane Estate and was designed by architects AHMM (who are also responsible for the design of the Houndsditch monstrosity that has just gained planning approval). Simon Allford of AHMM was elected president of RIBA last year, so at least some of those involved in this new scheme to steal our sunlight are highly visible careerists rather than faceless bureaucrats. In Houndsditch the developer is Brockton Everlast not Taylor Wimpey.

Interestingly at least one of those currently prominent in objections to the Houndsditch Tower played a valuable role in protests against The Denizen and specifically in the installation of the ‘Spectres of Modernism‘ banners on Bowater House (the social housing block in which some residents have lost 70% of the sunlight from their living rooms due to the ghost flat development built just to the south of their homes). Given that protests against the Denizen also encompassed a Halloween hex of the building and an anthology of horror stories set in these investment properties, we’re expecting to see inventive new forms of protest against the Houndsditch Tower alongside resident link ups being made across the City and beyond it as resistance to the Houndsditch development builds and unfolds.

Left existing view from Middlesex Street Estate community space and right view after Houndsditch Tower development.

Those behind the Houndsditch Tower sunlight stealing operation are:
Development Manager: Brockton Everlast Inc.
Development Director at Brockton Everlast is Richard Berry
PM & EA: Gardiner & Theobald
Architect/Lead Designer: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM)
Landscape architect BHSLA
Structural engineer AKT II
Building Services Engineer Norman Disney & Young
Environmental Design: Atelier 10
Cost Consultant: Alinea
Planning Consultant DP9
Gross internal floor area 66,900m²

In a City of London council press release of 16 November, planning committee chair and the greenwashing cheerleader for office development at the expense of City residents, Alastair Moss, stated:

115-123 Houndsditch is the seventh office-led tall building scheme to secure planning permission in the Square Mile this calendar year.

This is not only an unprecedented number of major developments to come for decision, but it also clearly illustrates the enduring strength of the office market in the City of London and unwavering confidence from developers.

With ambitious sustainability credentials, a focus on occupier well-being and offering in-demand flexible office floorspace for all variety of business, this development on Houndsditch will be an exemplar of the future of the Square Mile.

It’s also worth quoting some of the coverage from My London News:

Plans for a giant Central London tower block have been approved despite residents’ fears sunlight will be blocked from their homes.

Aldgate residents claim a 23-storey tower block will damage their mental and physical health by reducing sunlight.

Developer Cutlers Houndsditch Unit Trust has been granted permission to build a huge office block at Cutler Street and Houndsditch.

But local residents say it will damage precious outdoor space and harm the environment.

Aldgate resident Mark Lemanski objected to the plans, claiming the tower would impact residents’ mental and physical health.

He said: “Sunlight is essential. A lack of sunlight discourages people and especially children from spending time outside.

“There’s a direct relationship between health and sunlight. We are in the midst of an obesity and mental health crisis, especially amongst teenagers.”

Mr Lemanski said the tower would impact an outdoor play area and ball games space at Middlesex Street by completely casting them in shade.

He urged planning members to reject the plans in order to protect the wellbeing of local young people.

Local councillor Marianne Fredericks was extremely disappointed by the approval of the plans.

She said: “We can’t keep taking light away from the residents. Here we are on the edge of one of our largest residential estates building a whopping great big building.

“This is a large, tall lump of a building over-bearing down on our residents, diminishing their quality of life and health and well-being.

“The City is very poor at providing resources and facilities for our residents and up-keeping their housing.

“We’ve got no real open space for children to play and here we are with a little scrap that they have, taking it away and casting it into shadow.”

Ms Fredericks said the building should be half the size to ensure residents are not overshadowed.

Architect Simon Allford said the building design meets exceptional standards and will revamp a tired area of Aldgate.

He said: “We have designed a building that connects with and serves its community.”

Huge ‘lump of a building’ approved after residents say they’ll be overshadowed. ‘We’ve got no real open space for children to play’ by Hannah Neary, My London News, 16 November 2021. See the full piece here.