Sadiq Khan bans ‘The Tulip’, a 1,000ft ‘eyesore’, from city

A plan to build a “Tulip” skyscraper in London has been blocked by the mayor.

Sadiq Khan said that the 305.3m (1,001ft) observation tower was of “insufficient quality” and would harm the skyline, as he overruled City of London councillors who had approved it in April.

“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,” a spokesman said.

“In particular, he believes that the design is of insufficient quality for such a prominent location, and that the tower would result in harm to London’s skyline and impact views of the nearby Tower of London. The proposals would also result in an unwelcoming, poorly designed public space at street level.”

It was designed by Foster and Partners for Joseph Safra, a billionaire banker. Its detractors said that it looked like a surveillance tower and a lift shaft.

The Tulip had been intended to draw 1.2 million extra visitors a year into the City, but was opposed by Historic Royal Palaces, which feared that views of the Tower of London would be lost.

Yesterday, Duncan Wilson, head of Historic England, who had decried the proposed building as just “a lift shaft with a bulge”, applauded the mayor’s intervention. “We welcome the news that the Tulip has been refused planning permission,” he said. “We have long been of the opinion that this is the wrong building in the wrong place and would harm the capital’s image and identity.”

The City’s own public realm department had earlier reported that the ancient roads surrounding the site at 20 Bury Street, next door to the Foster-designed “Gherkin”, which Mr Safra also owns, would be unable to handle an influx of so many tourists.

In April, the Greater London Authority, run by Mr Khan, published a highly critical report stating that the Tulip did not represent “world-class architecture” and unintentionally created “the appearance of a surveillance tower”.

Work on the Tulip had been scheduled to begin next year and be completed by 2025. It was intended to become western Europe’s tallest building after the 310m Shard across the Thames, and which would have featured a multi-deck glass viewing platform with a bar and restaurant, rotating pods on the outside, and an education centre for up to 20,000 schoolchildren a year.

The developers are now considering an appeal. A spokesman said: “The Tulip project team are disappointed by the mayor’s decision to direct refusal of planning permission, particularly as the Tulip will generate immediate and longer-term socioeconomic benefits to London and the UK as a whole. We will now take time to consider potential next steps.”