London loves skyscrapers?
You’d think developers must be scraping the barrel for space in London. But, no they’re not really.
There are a total of 436 skyscrapers in the pipeline for the capital, according to research by New London Architecture and property consultants GLHearn.
The report found that since last year, the number of tall buildings that are under construction has increased from 70 to 89.
A total of 233 tall buildings in London have planning approval but are yet to start on site and a further 114 towers are either in planning or at pre-application stage.
Plans for 94 tall buildings were submitted since this time last year, up from 72 in the previous year. Of these 43 were approved in the same year, albeit 32 of these form part of the Greenwich Peninsula scheme, which has been developed through the planning system over a number of years. Three were refused and the rest await planning approval.
The average height of London’s new tall buildings is approximately 30 storeys, with 60% of the tall buildings reaching between 20 and 29 storeys. Only eight tall buildings reach 60 or more storeys.
Key observations:
Of the 436 tall buildings in the pipeline across London:
89 are under construction
233 are approved schemes, but not yet on site
114 are proposed schemes (including 39 in pre-application)
Source: New London Architecture
James Cook, planning director for GL Hearn, said: “The two most striking findings for us were about the number of applications for tall buildings submitted and approved over the course of the year and construction activity. The planning system demonstrated how efficient it can be with 43 applications for tall buildings gaining permission having being submitted during the year – whilst the majority of these towers were in one very large scheme, this nevertheless demonstrates the benefit of London’s strategic approach to tall buildings.
“The other very notable trend is that whilst the overall numbers increase, the level of construction activity remains relatively flat. We attribute this to the significant development and investment risk required to commit to construct tall buildings. Overall it is clear that delivery is a long way behind the pipeline and the planning system needs to continue to ensure any scheme that comes forward is carefully designed with architecture of the highest quality.”
Now read:
5 reasons Londoners HATE skyscrapers
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