Meeting to decide fate of landmark London buildings

A date has been set to decide the fate of the former Museum of London building and neighbouring Bastion House which are both set to be demolished to make way for 13-and 16-storey buildings on the edge of the Grade II-listed Barbican estate. The planned development known as London Wall West has been proposed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro and Sheppard Robson and has attracted nearly 1000 objections. 

The planning committee will meet on 17 April and campaign group Barbican Quarter Action (BQA) has instructed public law barrister Estelle Dehon KC, who specialises in environment and planning law to convey the objection on their behalf. The Twentieth Century Society has also rejected the plans and joined forces with BQA calling for the concrete buildings to be "be retained, refurbished and adapted to suit new uses".

A report by The City of London stated that the buildings were "very much at the end of their design lives" and Historic England has issued a Certificate of Immunity (COI). This document guarantees that a building will not be statutorily listed or be served with a Building Preservation Notice (BPN) by the local planning authority for five years.

Built in 1977, The Museum of London and Bastion House were designed by Powell & Moya who were a major architecture practice in post-war Britain and known for creating the Skylon at the Festival of Britain.