London’s skyscraper boom: Scores of towering new high rises set to be built across capital

THE CASE FOR

Earle Arney, founder of London-based architects AFK:

Buildings that taper into the sky aren’t new. Throughout history, they have created a strong sense of identity. But London and other cities around the world are changing fast — and the days of single-use tall towers will be a thing of the past.

We should start to imagine tall buildings as “vertical villages” supporting a rich mix of uses. These villages need to be punctuated with “village commons” that provide spaces for interaction to promote well-being, as well as being centres of innovation and community.

To unlock their potential, we need to uproot the belief that all tall buildings have to be a single-use type. They are the key to making London more accessible and solving some environmental challenges.

By accommodating more people in cities, tall buildings help us protect the Green Belt — and are an incredible way of breathing new life into the city.

THE CASE AGAINST

Barbara Weiss, architect and co-founder of the Skyline campaign:

As far as London’s skyline goes, it is clear that the game is up, leaving our great and unique capital well and truly blighted.

Take a look at Nine Elms, Elephant and Castle, Lewisham, the Shell Centre, even the City littered with every shape or form of inappropriate tall building. Last year, Paris passed sensible legislation, limiting building heights in the historic centre to 37 metres.

It is difficult not to regret, by comparison, the opposite approach adopted by our Mayor.

But while there is no going back, a few rays of hope have come for the growing legions of skyscraper objectors, causing punishing delays and cancellations.

Time has come for all those who love London to take a hard look at what has been achieved in “disrupting” to such an extent the unique urban fabric that distinguishes London from any other city in the world.