Planning update – 1 Golden Lane

Planning application now submitted

The planning application for the refurbishment and expansion of 1 Golden Lane has now been submitted. The planning reference number is 22/0020/FULMAJ and the accompanying documents – all 121 of them – can be seen on the City of London Planning website.

Most residents will undoubtedly be aware of this proposed redevelopment; indeed, many may also have gone along to the public exhibition and viewed the plans (sparse as they were). However a brief summary may be helpful.

Brief summary

The proposal is ‘a major refurbishment of the existing office building to deliver extensions and a series of alterations. The existing extension is 9 storeys high and it will be extended to rise up to 12 storeys, with a series of set back and tiered additions to the upper floors. This includes a 3-storey extension over part of the mansard roof of the eastern wing. Minor extensions are proposed laterally to the north and south (above ground level), with proposed upwards extensions to create occupiable floorspace at levels 10 and 11 and a roof terrace and lobby at level 12’.

The development will provide an increase in internal floorspace of c19.8% (2,588sqm) and net lettable floorspace of c11.6% (1,117sqm).

The Townscape Visual Impact Heritage Assessment documents 1&2 provide both interesting historical data (Section 3 in Vol 1), details of the proposed development (Section 4 Vol 1) and, most importantly, drawings/views of the building in Section 5 (Page 20 onwards and at the beginning of Vol 2).

The applicant claims that ‘the nature of the wider townscape is such that whilst the upper floors of the Proposed Development will be visible, they will simply be seen as part of the wider varied townscape of large-scale post-war and later development, and will continue the existing character………..The proposals will appear modest in relation to the existing townscape and there will be no harmful effect on any view’. Modest?! Please take a look and judge for yourselves.

There is also an interesting and detailed discussion of the proposal on BarbicanTalk.

Loss of residential amenity

The increased scale and mass of the building will inevitably create a loss of residential amenity for many nearby residents, including those in Ben Jonson House and Breton House, principally in the form of light pollution, overshadowing and loss of daylight and sunlight. As always seems to be the case, the Daylight, Sunlight and Overshadowing Report states that any impact is within allowable guidelines but affected residents may well feel otherwise.

Indeed, the report states that a total of 776 windows, serving 556 Site facing habitable rooms had been assessed across 7 nearby properties and that both Ben Jonson and Breton Houses “will experience fully BRE compliant alterations” in relation to levels of daylight and sunlight received. The impact on individual windows in the affected blocks is analysed in Appendix 4 of the Report.    

Please make your views known

The BA will be writing a letter of objection principally focussing on an unacceptable increase in height and mass and the loss of residential amenity in the form, as previously mentioned, of light pollution, overshadowing and loss of daylight and sunlight.

Please look through the documents. Any comments on the proposals can be made here. The Standard Consultation deadline is stated as the 20th April but the determination deadline is not until the 27th June so there will be some considerable leeway on this.