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It’s official – despite significant backlash from local residents, a new office block is being built by the Barbican Centre. Once built, the brand new One Silk Street will offer approximately 86,000 sqm of office space, alongside new cultural, retail and community spaces in the area.
Members of the City of London Corporation Planning Application Sub-Commitee voted to allow the proposal to go ahead on Thursday May 28. That’s despite more than 1,000 objections (out of 1,850 responses) to the plans during the consultation phase.
The current 1980s building on the site – once home to high-end law firm Linklaters – will be demolished to make way for the new development. Originally, the plan was to replace it with a building made up of two 20-storey towers, plus new public space and amenities. But after fierce criticism, the design was scaled back with one of the blocks reduced to 16 storeys plus ground.
The newly green-lit plans also include a new public plaza opposite the Barbican Centre entrance with retail and community spaces, and improved pedestrian connections between Moorgate and Liverpool Street to the Barbican.
The proposals received so many objections from local residents because of concerns over the height of the new blocks and the impacts on the nearby Grade II-listed Barbican Estate. The planned size of the building was reduced due to backlash earlier this year, but there was still major opposition. A spokesperson for the Barbican Quarter Action (BQA) group previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the amendments to the plans were ‘lopsided’ and ‘remain out of context, out of scale and grain’.
Tom Sleigh, the chairman of the City of London Corporation Planning and Transportation Committee, said: ‘The scheme that was approved by the committee was a stronger one than the early proposals, shaped by a long period of pre-application work and consultation with residents and statutory consultees.
‘The daylight impact on Barbican homes and the way the building meets the street were both reworked along the way. What it now delivers is a much needed, high-quality workspace, with the retention of much of the existing structure rather than demolition.
‘Crucially, it will also transform the public realm around the Barbican, with a new public route and plaza, open to all, creating a more welcoming, inclusive environment, with new cultural and community spaces that increase the City’s vibrancy across the week.’
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