Plans to demolish the former Museum of London building at London Wall after it moves to a new home in Smithfield may be changed, if someone can find a better use for the old building.
The current plans are to clear the entire site by demolishing both the 1970s Museum of London building as well as the monolithic Bastion House office block that sits next to it, and then redevelop the site.
The initial suggestions would see the whole site cleared, and the roundabout’s northern roads merged into the development so that the roundabout effectively ceases to exist. On this site, three new office blocks could be built with a large open space in between them to reveal more of the Roman London Wall, and the hidden fort that’s currently hardly ever seen as it’s in a locked basement.
However, the plans are not universally popular, and the City of London also recently adopted a planning policy to put refurbishment ahead of demolition where possible.
The City of London now says that it wants to establish the level of market interest in repurposing these buildings for new uses.
Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, Chris Hayward, said: “While demolition is currently regarded as the best option to transform the site and allow us to provide new public open spaces and cultural attractions, it is clear that there is some desire locally for these buildings to be retained. We are actively listening and exploring whether there is a viable alternative.”
They haven’t ruled out clearing the site, but if someone can come up with a way of refurbishing the old museum building and the 17-storey office block next to it, then the option now exists to do so. They suggest that consideration could be given to recladding and/or adding to the existing structures.
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It would be nice to find a middle ground where more of the wall can be exposed and the old fort could be made accessible while avoiding the excesses of complete razing of existing structures. Is there a need for more office space versus affordable housing in the area? I know my preference would be affordable housing.
With the new Museum so far in the future, it begs the question why the Museum didn’t utilise the building until it was absolutely necessary to vacate.
They are utilising the building – in packing up all the things that are in there.
You can’t close a museum and shift everything in a few weeks – it takes months, if not years to do that.
They should just demolish the whole thing, reconfigure the road layout, then rebuild.
More social housing in Bastion. Turn the MoL into a music venue.
Open up all the shops on the High Walkways to service the people living in Bastion House.
Just look at those ugly commercial structures nearby makes me want to weep.Why, oh why is Historical london being demolished to be replaced with greenhouse glass structures which are an obscene to the naked eye. London is not Dubai so please stop the DESTRUCTION of London.As people are now working from home there is no demand office space.Those ancient sites are sacred and should be preserved for future generations or else present custodians will go down in history as vandals.
It’s impossible to adapt to any other purpose; it was always a quirky, odd building, conditioned by highly unusual planning requirements in context and for a museum with very specific requirements. It was already chopped about a lot 20 years ago.