Plans to build a 16-storey tower block on top of Liverpool Street station have been described by actor and campaigner Griff Rhys Jones as “frightening” and “greenwashing of the most blatant kind”.
Sellar, the developer responsible for the Shard at London Bridge and the Cube beside Paddington station, wants to erect a modern office block on top of the Victorian mainline station and the Grade II*-listed former Greater Eastern Hotel, now the Andaz hotel.
Network Rail, which owns Liverpool Street station, supports the plans as they would fund new lifts and escalators in the station concourse, which it claims suffers from overcrowding at peak times.
But conservation groups have joined forces to mount a legal challenge against the proposal, with hundreds of people attending a campaign meeting on Tuesday night.
Mr Rhys Jones, president of the Victorian Society, said the plans would wreck an exemplary upgrade of Liverpool Street station only completed 30 years ago.
He said the developments at London Bridge and Paddington were alongside, rather than on top, of the rail stations, as would be the case at Liverpool Street.
“The precedent that this is setting, and the idea of what this means to conservation areas, and to buildings generally, is really frightening,” he said.
He said the developer’s claims of new jobs and sustainable construction was “‘greenwashing’ of the most blatant kind”. He said the proposed development would leave the station and hotel “dwarfed, swamped and extinguished”.
Mr Rhys Jones said 11 skyscrapers were already planned to be built in the City. “This is one project too far,” he said.
He said the campaign, which has united a host of conservation groups in opposition, was not about the past but about the future.
He told the Standard: “In about 100 years’ time, the idea that we had these fantastic monuments to the history of Britain… when it was leading the world with railways, but we messed them up or demolished them to build some offices, people will wonder what on earth we were doing.
“If you had gone to the Tower of London and said, ‘I know what we can do: we can use the airspace above the Tower of London’, I think people would turn round and say that was mad.”
King’s Cross, St Pancras and London Bridge stations have undergone successful transformation in recent years. But Mr Rhys Jones said he had little faith in Network Rail to preserve the historic character of Liverpool Street.
“At King’s Cross they cleared away a lot of the poor additions to reveal the original buildings,” he said.
“At St Pancras, they integrated the original buildings. Here, we’re looking at something that seems to be a swamping of the original buildings.
“It’s also very, very questionable, I’m afraid, as to whether the improvements that might need to be made – which amount to escalators and a few lifts – couldn’t be made within the context of that rather brilliant concourse as it stands.”
The tower block would stand 21 storeys high, once the five-storey hotel was included. Mr Rhys Jones questioned the need for more office space in Bishopsgate when so many buildings were being advertised with vacant space.
Eleven skyscrapers are planned in the City of London and the Sellar scheme was described as “one project too far” for the Square Mile.
Mr Rhys Jones said: “We want to emphasise that this is not a derelict site. It’s not a redundant building or a useless piece of old concrete block that needs refurbishing. This is a working station that was brought to a fine state of refurbishment only 30 years ago.
“I have never known so many conservation bodies get together round one cause so swiftly and quite so fervently.
“That is because this development… relies on ‘pushing the envelope’ of the conservation area and the listed building consent to its very limits.
“If we allow a principle that anybody who finds a conservation area a little bit bothersome can just build out sideways… the buildings beneath it are going to dwarfed, they are going to be swamped, they’re going to be extinguished.”
Joe O'Donnell, director of the Victorian Society, told the meeting that Network Rail did not need to rely on “billion pound developments” to fund station improvements.
He pointed to a recent freedom of information response from the Department for Transport which said it was providing funds to improve the station.
It said: “The Department is investing in necessary improvements to cope with increasing passenger numbers at the station.
“A scheme is under development with Network Rail that will reconfigure the gateline across platforms 1-10. This follows a similar scheme of works completed in 2020 to improve passenger flow across the gateline of platforms 11-18.
“The department is continuing to invest in station enhancements to improve passenger experience and safety.”
He said it was a “David and Goliath battle”, with Sellar and Network Rail on one side and conservation groups on the other.
“I’m absolutely determined that we will win and stop these absurd plans,” he said. “This is going to be the planning fight of the century so far.”
Campaigners fear that developers and landowners will effectively be able to sell and build in the “airspace” above protected buildings if the scheme is approved.
Mr O’Donnell said there would be a risk of the planning rules that protect St Paul’s Cathedral being usurped should the Liverpool Street development be granted permission. “If these plans go ahead it will set a terrible precedent,” he said.
He said there would be “10 years of misery for passengers” at Liverpool Street station if the redevelopment is allowed.
“We know that Network Rail is already looking at plans for Waterloo station and Victoria station. What it gets away with at Liverpool Street station it will try there next.”
Richard Garvey, Development Director at Sellar, said: “Liverpool Street station is in desperate need of an upgrade. It was largely demolished and redeveloped in the 1980s when the best estimates never foresaw its use by more than 40 million users annually. Today it is used by 100 million people per year leading to overcrowding and poor accessibility.
“We have spoken to thousands of people as part of the consultation process and the feedback has been unanimous that the station accessibility is poor. Despite what the heritage campaign says, this is a problem that extends far beyond just the rail concourse, with three out of four underground platforms inaccessible to anyone who needs step-free access. Cities must be inclusive for all and is clear to us that the 1980s redevelopment with its one lift, found within the War Memorial and serving only part of the station, no longer meets the expectations or demands of modern users.
“We plan to deliver £450 million of station improvements to address these overcapacity and accessibility issues, including installing lifts which navigate a complex subterranean environment and allow all users to access all the underground lines for the first time. Our approach will protect and showcase the Victorian elements of the station, including integrating the historic rooms of the Andaz hotel into the station concourse and opening up sightlines to the original train sheds, views which were lost by interventions made during the 1980s redevelopment. At a time when public funding for infrastructure projects in London is at a minimum, these improvements would be funded by the commercial development above so there will be no cost to the public purse or the farepayer. It is expected that improvements to the station would be delivered over two years, and the entire project would be completed over a five-year period.
“On the point of ‘precedent’ it is worth noting that every planning application is assessed on its own merits and individual circumstances. There are already other examples of developments or consents above and adjacent to Victorian buildings around the country including the recent consent for a mixed-use scheme above a Victorian bathhouse in the City of London, which the Society itself commented on only yesterday.”
