List of signatories

David Adjaye architect
Lord Baker of Dorking
Alan Baxter engineer
Steven Bee planner
Alan Bennett author
Denise Bennetts architect
Rab Bennetts architect
Alain de Botton author
Alison Brooks architect
Professor Adam Caruso architect
Clem Cecil director, Save
Sir David Chipperfield architect
Richard Coleman architect
Michael Coombs engineer
Charles Correa architect
Dan Cruickshank historian
Edward Cullinan architect
Councillor Robert Davis deputy leader, Westminster City Council
Liza Fior architect
Professor Adrian Forty architectural historian
Johnny Flynn musician
Sir Antony Gormley sculptor
Professor Vittorio Gregotti architect
Professor Sean Griffiths architect
Graham Haworth architect
Sir Michael Hintze hedge fund founder
Nick Jeffrey planner
Eva Jiricna architect
Edward Jones architect
Dame Tessa Jowell MP
Sir Anish Kapoor sculptor
Crispin Kelly housing developer
David Lammy MP
Alan Leibowitz property developer
Hana Loftus architect
Rosemarie MacQueen Westminster City Council
Kevin McCloud broadcaster
John Miller architect
Lucy Musgrave architect
Robin Nicholson architect
Rory Olcayto acting editor, Architects' Journal
Eric Parry architect
Pankaj Patel architect
Sunand Prasad architect
Griff Rhys Jones president, Civic Voice
Dickon Robinson CBE, architect
David Rosen property consultant
Professor Joseph Rykwert historian
Charles Saumarez Smith chief executive, Royal Academy
Jonathan Sergison architect
Simon Silver property developer
Dr David Souden historian
Geoffrey Spyer architect
Peter St John architect
Nick Starr executive director, National Theatre
Rory Stewart MP
Lady Stirling
Deyan Sudjic director, Design Museum
Andrew Taylor architect
Paul Thompson rector, Royal College of Art
Charles Thomson architect
Professor Jeremy Till head, Central Saint Martins
Steve Tompkins architect
Sir John Tusa arts administrator and broadcaster
Madelon Vriesendorp artist
Rebecca Warren artist
Barbara Weiss architect
Sarah Wigglesworth architect
Roger Zogolovitch architect
London Forum of Amenity and Civic Societies
Fulham Society
Friends of St George's Gardens
The Kensington Society
Tower Hamlets Federation of TRAs
Stamford Brook Residents' Association
Brackenbury Residents' Association
The Kew Society
Ashchurch Residents' Association
Highgate Society
St Helens Residents' Association
East End Preservation Society

The statement

Signed on 29th March 2014

The skyline of London is out of control. Over 200 tall buildings, from 20 storeys to much greater heights, are currently consented or proposed. Many of them are hugely prominent and grossly insensitive to their immediate context and appearance on the skyline.

This fundamental transformation is taking place with a shocking lack of public awareness, consultation or debate. Planning and political systems are proving inadequate to protect the valued qualities of London, or to provide a coherent and positive vision for the future skyline.

The official policy is that tall buildings should be "well-designed and in the right place", yet implementation of policy is fragmented and weak. Too many of these towers are of mediocre architectural quality and badly sited. Many show little consideration for scale and setting, make minimal contribution to public realm or street-level experience, and are designed without concern for their cumulative effect and impact. Their generic designs threaten London's unique character and identity.


Most of the proposed towers are not vital to London's prosperity and financial wellbeing. The majority are residential, but they are neither essential to meeting housing needs, nor the best way to achieve greater densities. Their purpose is more to create investments than homes or cohesive communities. They have the potential to cause permanent damage to the city's urban fabric and to its global image and reputation.

This damage can be stopped. Existing powers allow local, city and national government to refuse tall buildings of poor quality and in inappropriate locations, and these powers must be used more rigorously. We support the idea of a mayoral Skyline Commission, to review and enable well-designed development. We call for a more structured policy for tall buildings, with transparency for the public and clarity for developers. We believe that London needs a city-wide discussion of these vital issues.

London, one of the great cities of the world, deserves better. We are not opposed to building high, but believe that the most visible buildings in the city require the greatest care in their siting, individual design and aggregate impact. The communities secretary and his ministers, the mayor and the boroughs must wake up to the risk of irreversible harm that London is facing, and take effective action.