The picture is from ACME’s design for the Liverpool Street Station revamp.
The City of London planning committee voted on 10th February to approve the planning application to redevelop Liverpool Street station 19-3, based on the ACME design, subject to conditions. The application gathered over 3,500 objections, a record number for a City of London planning application. The next step will be the decisions of the Mayor of London and, if necessary, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
See the press release on the City of London decision issued by LISSCA (Liverpool Street Station Campaign), of which LAMAS is a member, here.
We reproduce the BBC’s report on the decision below:
Controversial plans to redevelop London Liverpool Street railway station have been approved.
Network Rail said its proposals to transform the Grade II-listed site were given the go-ahead by the planning committee of the City of London on Tuesday.
The £1.2bn project involves building a mixed-use 97-metre (318ft) tower block over the concourse of what is the UK’s busiest railway station.
Network Rail insisted its plans respected the station’s “unique heritage”.
‘Disfiguring’
However, actor Griff Rhys Jones, who is president of the Victorian Society and the Liverpool Street Station Campaign (LISSCA), claimed it was a “sad day for the City of London”.
He said: “A disfiguring billion-pound office block on top of a major heritage asset is not essential to the City’s development plans.
“It is doubtful whether it will easily provide the profit to ‘improve’ the concourse, and can only realise a small amount of extra space for the passenger.
“Its focus is retail opportunities, which the commuter doesn’t need.
“It will destroy an existing conservation area. It demolishes listed buildings. It is harmful to the surrounding historic fabric.
Rhys Jones accused the City of London of having “bowed to developer ambitions” and setting a “bad precedent” for London.
LISSCA said it had “the backing of thousands of supporters” and would “now await the decisions of the mayor of London and, if necessary, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government”.
Network Rail said its plans included improvements such an increasing overall concourse capacity by 76%, providing better passenger flow and step-free access from street level to all platforms, including London Underground lines. It said there would also be more lifts and escalators.
See also an article by Building Design here.