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'The Tulip' tower: Sadiq Khan throws out plans for controversial skyscraper in City of London

Sadiq Khan has thrown out plans for the 1,000ft Tulip tower proposed for the City of London.

The Mayor rejected the application to construct what would be the second tallest building in Western Europe, which would feature a viewing platform with rotating pods.

The City of London had given the green light in April despite major objections from groups including Historic England and Historic Royal Palaces its impact on views of the nearby Tower of London.

Today a spokesman for Mr Khan said: “The Mayor has a number of serious concerns with this application and having studied it in detail has refused permission for a scheme that he believes would result in very limited public benefit.

The 1,000ft building was pitched to sit alongside the Gherkin and be the tallest in the City (© DBOX for Foster + Partners)
The 1,000ft building was pitched to sit alongside the Gherkin and be the tallest in the City (© DBOX for Foster + Partners)

“In particular, he believes that the design is of insufficient quality for such a prominent location, and that the tower would result in harm to London’s skyline and impact views of the nearby Tower of London World Heritage Site.

"The proposals would also result in an unwelcoming, poorly-designed public space at street level.”

The skyscraper was granted planning approval on April 2 despite huge concerns about its impact on historic views of London.

In its decision the Corporation had described the Foster + Partners designed structure next the Gherkin town as “truly unique” and said it would help boost the number of people visiting the Square Mile at weekends.

It had been forecast that 1.2 million people a year would visit the Foster + Partners designed slender tower.

It was proposed that the “bud” at the top would have 12 publicly accessible storeys including a viewing platform with rotating pods, a restaurant and sky bar and an entire floor dedicated to education facilities.