Battersea eco-tower scrapped

Plans to include a 300m-tall glass chimney as part of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment have been dropped after opposition from London planners and major Boris Johnson.

A scaled-down design, missing the signature tower, was presented to CABE’s design review panel last week after Johnson and senior planning officials warned that they would oppose the scheme because of its impact on the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey world heritage site, reports Building Design (BD).

The changes are a blow for architect Rafael Viñoly and developer Treasury Holdings, who consistently argued that the tower was intrinsic to the £4bn regeneration scheme.

One source at local authority Wandsworth Council told BD: ‘The crucial piece of news that has lead to the change has been the mayor’s office letting Treasury Holdings know quite clearly [that it would not back the tower] … and [the architects] may have decided in light of that attitude that they needed to modify their scheme.’

The tower’s removal will also raise questions over the project’s ambitions to be sustainable. Under the original plans an ‘eco-dome’ at the base of the chimney would have pulled fresh air through the building’s below, eliminating the need for mechanical cooling.

But BD’s source said the council had also questioned the viability of the technology: ‘There were lots of people asking questions – on the one hand about whether it would actually work [and on the other about whether it was] the only way you could achieve a carbon-neutral scheme.’

Viñoly’s revised plan will be submitted for outline planning next month, alongside detailed proposals for an extension of the London Underground Northern line to Battersea, concludes Building.