Canary Wharf skyscraper plans return with second staircase

Morris+Company has added a second set of stairs to a proposed 52-storey tower in Canary Wharf after the London Fire Brigade (LFB) raised safety concerns over the original design. Developer Ballymore's planning application for the 424-home tower was due to ruled over by Tower Hamlets Council in January; however, it was withdrawn following the LFB's comments that the single-staircase design did not provide a ‘suitable and convenient means of escape’ in the case of a blaze. The updated plan replaces a lift in the building’s southern core with a new stairway that can be accessed from every floor. The changes, which do not affect the number of homes or the building’s façade, mean there will be one fewer lift for the building. However, a planning statement said the other three lifts had been "increased in size and will operate at a faster speed to meet waiting time requirements". Morris+Company's 174m-tall tower is earmarked, alongside a pocket park, for a 0.44ha site running along Cuba Street. The castle-inspired scheme is now due to be ruled on by Tower Hamlets' Strategic Development Committee in the coming months.

Architects' Journal (15/03/2022)   My London (15/03/2022)