Skyscrapers in Westminster? Taller buildings plan mulled

A new crop of towers could be on the way in Westminster after the city council on Monday launched a consultation on constructing taller buildings.

Less than a year after the controversial Paddington Pole was abandoned by developer Sellar Properties following a blaze of protest, the council is asking for views on building higher.

Developing taller buildings in the area is difficult because the Palace of Westminster is a world heritage site and new structures must not impede sightlines to it or St Paul’s Cathedral.

But Westminster’s population is projected to grow from 226,000 to 262,000 by 2036, requiring an extra 21,000 homes and another two million square metres of office space.

Daniel Astaire, the council’s cabinet member for planning and public realm, said he was “open to taller and higher buildings as a matter of policy” but admitted building higher “is something that has always been a bit contentious because everybody likes the status quo”.

Astaire stressed: “We’re not talking about Shards in Westminster, we’re talking about appropriate buildings in appropriate places.”

But he added: “We have people who don’t like basements and people who don’t like building up, and the question I ask these people is that if you want to grow as a city which way do we go?”

Astaire said taller buildings might be “apt” on the corridor from Park Lane to Marble Arch. Paddington, Victoria and Tottenham Court Road could also see higher buildings.

Mike Hussey, chief of developer Almacantar, said: “It is encouraging that the council is edging away from its conservationist stance on tall buildings.”