Ballymore withdraws plans for Canary Wharf ‘castle’

Following an intervention by the London Fire Brigade (LFB), developer Ballymore has decided to delay plans for a 52-storey Canary Wharf skyscraper with just one fire escape. The proposal was due to go before Tower Hamlets Council's planning committee on Thursday. “Our comments on the Cuba Street development have been provided directly to the planning committee with regards to the fire strategy of the building", the LFB said. "In buildings with a single escape route, we would expect the developer to have their own fire engineers provide a full review to show the resilience in the event of a fire and this does not appear to have been carried out". The plans had previously been recommended for approval. The 174m skyscraper was designed by Morris+Company, which described it as a "castle in the cluster", with its crown featuring castellations made by vertical façade panels which continue into the sky and end "in a manner of scale, intricacy and boldness". The development was to have included 400 flats with a total of 655 bedrooms. The scheme also included a new public park, which will cover around half of the rectangular 0.44ha site. The site is close to Glenn Howells Architects’ recently completed Wardian London development, which is formed of a pair of residential towers standing at 50 and 55 storeys, as well as HTA Design’s 26-storey Bellamy Close, which was given planning permission last year.

Architects Journal (14/01/2022)   Property Week (14/01/2022)   The Guardian (14/01/2022)