The site at 99 City Road currently occupies a 10-storey postmodern office building developed in the late 1980s as the headquarters of satellite communications company Inmarsat. However, last year Inmarsat and developer Endurance Land moved on He bought the site in the spring for £150m.
The new owner now wants to demolish 37 percent of the existing building, before expanding it vertically to create a 37-storey tower providing an additional 45,000 square metres.2 of office space, according to early plans Posted for consultation.
The tower scheme will feature an enhanced public realm around the building, as well as active façades, café space and 510 sqm2 of flexible community space – including a triple-height “Great Room”, which can hold markets, exhibitions, and performances.
Consultation documents said that the design of the tower is “rooted in the distinguished history of local areas”, its appearance is “tac”[ing] The inspiration is from the Victorian buildings in the neighboring conservation areas of Bunhill Fields, Finsbury Square and South Shoreditch.
They added: ‘The design of the façade has been developed to respect the folded nature of the mass as well as to emphasize the slender proportions of the tower. The solid terracotta facade is colored by drawing inspiration from warehouse buildings in the vicinity.
A 160-meter-tall tower was chosen to “produce an elegant and well-proportioned building,” the document stated, adding that its stepped mass creates an “elegant” volume while also allowing for urban greening on “several terraces.”
A planning application for the plan will be submitted to Islington Council early next year.
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