Eleanor Crook Sculpt

NEWS: C20 is extremely disappointed to learn that a Certificate of Immunity from listing has been issued by DCMS for 10 Cabot Square in Canary Wharf. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in a Chicago style Beaux-Arts revival and built 1988-91, the Society had argued it is the finest example of this type of architecture remaining in Canary Wharf and strongly recommended a Grade II designation. Historic England’s list report acknowledges the ‘unmistakable expense and ambition’ of the building, reserving particular praise for the arcade, stone-clad base, Baroque treatment of the principal entrances, the mahogany shopfronts with coloured glass lanterns, and lavish surviving interiors, concluding ‘its grandeur and scale are convincing’. However, the report goes on to criticise the ‘superficiality of its architecture’, ultimately recommending that it fails to meet the criteria for listing and stating ‘the form and massing are unremarkable; its proportions and detail struggle to maintain conviction above the second floor, and the architectural vigour at the base is not matched by its termination and skyline’. The building is currently subject to a planning application that if consented would see it largely demolished, with only the foundations and structural frame retained. C20 has formally objected to the Howells-led scheme, which is yet to be determined by Tower Hamlets. Developer Olympia & York’s requirement for Canary Wharf was that it was ‘quintessentially Postmodern...rooted in place and time, it had not only to look as if it was an established part of London but that it had evolved over time’. 10 Cabot Square is resolutely turn-of-the-century American in its stylings, with Sullivan-like ornament and a high-quality façade system of brick and stone clad panels, meeting more traditionally British features such as the arcades, inspired by enclosed passages off Piccadilly. The building is historically important and an exceptionally well-designed synthesis of the early Chicago skyscraper and its London context. Its loss to Canary Wharf and the built-environment of this uniquely planned area of the city would be profound.