London’s Mayor ends Foster and Partners Plan of the Tulip Tower

Despite the fact that The Tulip Tower’s plans gained preliminary approval three months ago from the City of London’s planning and transportation committee ; be it at the time there were fierce opposition from heritage groups such as the Historic Royal Palaces amongst others, it seems that Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London has finally put an end to the dispute and London skyline will not host the Tulip Tower after all.

The controversial 305-meter-tall (1,000 ft) visitor attraction, was conceived as a new public cultural and tourist destination that would enhance its surroundings. according to the team behind the project, the tulip sought to bring ‘wide cultural and economic benefits with a diverse program of events’.

The mayor’s rejection came on the grounds that it would provide “very limited public benefit” to the City of London and that it was not the “world-class architecture that would be required to justify its prominence”.
The viewing platform and gondola ride attraction would not have been free to enter for the public.
The Tulip Tower was hailed by Norman Foster earlier this year as a contender if not ‘a world symbol of London’ as it was due to be built alongside the RIBA Stirling Prize-winning 30 Mary St Axe – known as The Gherkin, which was also designed by Foster and Partners.

photography by © DBOX for Foster + Partners

A spokesperson for the mayor stated that “The mayor has a number of serious concerns with this application and having studied it in detail has refused permission for a scheme that he believes would result in very limited public benefit,”
In January of this year, the mayor’s office had warned that the 305-meter tall viewing attraction was in breach of its planning guidelines for the city.

London in the past few years has seen numerous skyscrapers filling up its skylines such as the Walkie Talkie; the 2015 winner of the Carbuncle Cup, RSH+P’s Cheesegrater with many more planned for the city. In fact, there are 541 proposed skyscrapers for London, that include towers designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.

Reacting to the news, a spokesperson for the Tulip project said, “The Tulip Project team are disappointed by The Mayor of London’s decision to direct refusal of planning permission, particularly as The Tulip will generate immediate and longer-term socio-economic benefits to London and the UK as a whole,” adding, “We will now take time to consider potential next steps for The Tulip Project.”