Will London’s famous landmarks be swallowed by ‘undesirable’ new skyscrapers?

It can seem like a new skyscraper is approved everyday in London, with 600 ‘queuing up in the pipeline’ over the next decade.

Just last week French investor Axa submitted an application to build 46-storey tower block 63 St Mary Axe – just around the corner from the Gherkin.

If approved, this will be the third skyscraper the company will erect in the heart of London since the pandemic.

Their 22 Bishopsgate, which is the tallest building the City, opened in 2020, and work is also about to start on the 36-storey 50 Fenchurch Street.

The landmark 54-storey 99 Bishopsgate building, which will be built by Liverpool Street Station, was also approved this month, despite the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Rowan William, calling it ‘undesirable’.

A new 74-storey skyscraper named 1 Undershaft, which will host Europe’s highest public viewing gallery, was also given the go-ahead in December.

These are just a few of nearly 600 new skyscrapers planned for the capital in the next decade.

But with all the new buildings popping up, is London’s skyline set to change forever, and will our favourite iconic buildings be swallowed in the clutter?

Thankfully no – but we need to expect change, but ‘that is what makes London so amazing’.

Architect Bill Webb, found of firm Able and has helped design some of the City of London’s skyscrapers, said the skyline will become more clustered.

He told Metro: ‘New buildings are governed by the London View Management Framework, which makes sure no new blocks can get in the way of important viewing areas.’

This includes making sure St Paul’s Cathedral is always seeable from Primrose Hill, and Parliament Hill to the Palace of Westminster.

This ensures new buildings are either being built in place of previous ones which are demolished, or have to contort into a whimsical shape to fit the space they are allowed to develop in.

But these spaces are undoubtedly set to become more clustered, as buildings continue to develop ‘faster and higher’.

Bill said: ‘The cluster of buildings is going to become more dense over the years, and views will undoubtedly become more different.

‘But people called the Gherkin ugly when it was first erected, now it is vital part of London’s space and has opened up more viewpoints.’

With the recently approved skyscrapers, they are set to make little difference to Londoner’s views.

‘It will be like adding a brush stroke to an already famous silhouette,’ Bill explained. ‘You are building it in the middle of the cluster and will make very little difference.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.