Tower set to be the tallest in the City of London, 1 Undershaft held up by planning row

The decision to approve a skyscraper set to be the tallest in the City – towering over the “Walkie Talkie” and “Cheese Grater” buildings and matching the height of London Bridge’s Shard – has been deferred by the Square Mile’s planning committee despite planning officers recommending it for approval.

The Eric Parry-designed 1 Undershaft Building, which would stand at 309.6m high, providing 154,000 sq. m. flexible office floorspace and an estimated 9,500 new jobs, was expected to get the green light for construction in the City cluster’s world-leading insurance hub after what has been a protracted eight-year planning process.

However, the City of London Planning Applications Sub-Committee voted to defer its decision on the grounds that the current design infringed too much on the adjacent St Helens Square communal space.

The motion that “minor adjustments in relation to the ground floor public realm” was carried by nine votes to six, with two abstentions.

The majority of objections voiced during the committee related to the manner in which its design would eat into the square, where people congregate for lunch, the committee heard.

The decision comes even though the planning officers’ report, published ahead of the committee’s meeting, recommended approval for the 74-storey building. The sub-committee is expected to give 1 Undershaft the green light after the adjustments are made.

The building’s developers, Aroland Holdings, are now expected to have to come back with a plan containing structural adjustments to the building to ensure it occupies less of the Square.

The decision comes after several big names came out in opposition to the state-of-the-art skyscraper in a last ditch attempt to prevent it getting the go-ahead.

This morning, the chair of Lloyd’s of London – which is based in the iconic Richard Rogers-designed Lloyd’s building also situated on St Helen’s Square – Bruce Carnegie-Brown, wrote to City of London officials that 1 Undershaft “would rob the City of a really important convening space”.

And CC Land, which is the lead investor in the neighbouring Cheesegrater building, lodged an objection.

The firm’s head of development Justin Black said at the hearing: “We believe these plans to be flawed, resulting in unnecessary harm to the public realm townscape and the setting of heritage assets.”

Aroland Holdings was approached for comment.