The half doughnut offices

An office block shaped like half a doughnut and covered with chess board-style checks is set to be built close to the Old Bailey.

The nine-storey building, designed by architect Ken Shuttleworth for developers Land Securities, curves around a public plaza, with shops and a large cafÈ on the lower floors.

Mr Shuttleworth, 55, who was the main designer of the Gherkin at St Mary Axe while with Norman Foster & Partners, has set up his own firm, Make Architects.

The company is involved in a string of proposed developments in London.

The doughnut scheme, which would replace ugly Fifties blocks, is backed by English Heritage and the Mayor but the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment is concerned the building would be "an incongruous addition to the tight streetscape".

City planners are recommending councillors approve the "well-designed" building at a meeting on Tuesday.