Artist joins protest against 'alien' development that would dwarf nearby properties

A Turner Prize-winning artist has joined hundreds of Shoreditch residents to fight plans to build a 255ft tower because it would be "alien" to the area.

Sculptor Rachel Whiteread has appealed to Tower Hamlets council not to allow a 25-storey skyscraper that would dwarf neighbouring properties.

Developer Londonewcastle has enlisted leading architect Amanda Levete to design the tower for the Huntingdon Estate site. It would be opposite Shoreditch High Street station on the East London Line. As well as 116 flats, the proposals include retail, leisure and office units, basement parking and roof gardens. A separate development at Fleet Street Hill nearby would contain 43 homes to meet affordable housing criteria.

Residents groups such as Open Shoreditch and the Jago Action Group say the scheme would have a "disjunctive effect on the streetscape" and have passed on more than 1,000 letters of protest, including Whiteread's, to the council. In a 2008 open letter, Whiteread and other artists said such plans risked "destroying" a "unique" creative hub. A heritage impact assessment by Richard Griffiths Architects for residents said that the tower would be "alien" to the area and failed to meet conservation guidelines.

The scheme goes before Tower Hamlets' strategic development committee this summer.

Story credit: Architects' weekly Building Design.