Mayor of London urges government to reject Tulip appeal

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged the government to reject a planning appeal for the 303.5m-tall Tulip building in London.

Foster + Partners, which has designed the tower at 20 Bury Street, proposed by developer Safra Group, lodged the appeal with the secretary of state Robert Jenrick earlier this year.

The Tulip was originally vetoed by Khan in July last year, after a decision in April by the City Corporation’s planning and transportation committee to approve the scheme.

In a letter to Jenrick, Khan claimed the building “would not constitute the high standard of design” needed for the site and said he believed it would harm London’s skyline and affect views of the nearby Tower of London World Heritage Site.

The design for the Tulip promises a visitor attraction offering skybridges, internal slides, an education facility at the top and gondola pods that move up and down the tower.

But it attracted opposition from groups like Historic Royal Palaces and Historic England, which branded the building a “lift shaft with a bulge on top”.

Meanwhile, a report by the London Review Panel concluded the Tulip was not a “world class” building and therefore didn’t justify its height and prominence.