Three Sisters Meet Their Waterloo

Three Sisters Meet Their Waterloo

Published on 12-10-2009 by Skyscrapernews.com
Clearly fed up of Boris Johnson's impression of a fish stranded on land, the government has ended any chance of him changing his mind yet again on the future of the Elizabeth House Redevelopment by simply throwing the project out following the intervention of the Secretary of State.

The project located next to Waterloo Station was unaffectionately dubbed the "Three Ugly Sisters" and consisted of three towers standing at 22, 28 and 33 storeys that were never particularly noteworthy compared to some of the architectural gems proposed in London.

Adding to the damnation, it was also noted the designs of the buildings were disturbing and lacked elegance. The government also mentioned the towers ruining the view of Big Ben and Westminster which is prime ammunition for NIMBY�s to shoot down any future proposals for the site with although perhaps with more sensitive designs that are less solid and hulking in nature.

The 1.5 million square feet project which carried a £1 billion price tag, would have been developed by P+O Estates along with Morgan Stanley was originally opposed by Boris who later decided to give them the go-ahead despite his campaign for mayor ship being based heavily on promises to protect London�s historic views.

After an eight day public enquiry back in May where both English Heritage and Westminster Council expressed concerns over the towers being an eyesore the future of the towers began to look somewhat shaky.

This is one of the first times that English Heritage has actually won a public inquiry to have tall buildings from being approved, but given the unloved nature of the designs and the lack of prominent backers for the project, it shouldn't be seen as that surprising.

Although the prospect of developing the site has not been totally ruled out it, may be some years before anyone can agree exactly what kind of development wont intrude on the views of Big Ben and Westminster.

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