Preservationists in Great Britain are backing stronger planning powers that would affect the look—and height—of London’s future buildings. In March, the government released its White Paper on Heritage, which called for creating development buffer zones around 27 World Heritage sites, including the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament. It followed closely on the heels of calls from UNESCO to prevent skyscraper construction near heritage sites that are at risk from rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.
Among the towers that could be affected by an exclusion zone is Rafael Viñoly’s so-called “Walkie-Talkie,” a 630-foot-tall skyscraper that Land Securities seeks to develop near the Tower of London. English Heritage renewed claims last week that the bulbous building—which it describes as “an oppressive and overwhelming form”—will spoil what it calls the city’s best patch of skyline, a “Sky Gateway” that stretches 3.5 miles east from the Tower of London to Canary Wharf. Though the Walkie-Talkie was granted planning approval in September, soon after it became subject to an inquiry assessing what the government terms “the appropriateness of a very, very tall building.”
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