A campaign has been launched to stop the City of London Corporation from bulldozing part of the Barbican.
The City of London plans to demolish Bastion House and the Museum of London. The museum is expected to move to the Smithfield market nearby.
The corporation has submitted plans to destroy the buildings and replace them with a 780,000-square feet office block, reports the Evening Standard.
But campaign group Barbican Quarter Action has called for the City of London to reconsider the decision because of the economic and environmental problems it would create – including a net increase in CO2.
The group’s campaign London Starts Here will try and raise awareness of the Barbican area and its rich history.
The brutalist 1970s estate is Grade II listed but the City of London got an exemption in 2019 meaning it can demolish the Museum of London and Bastion House.
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This means campaigners can not use the building’s listed status to try and repeal the decision.
So far 88 percent of residents have voted against the buildings being bulldozed.
Barbican Association chairman Adam Hogg slammed the plans for being “short-sighted” and not “worthy of the site”.
He said: “This remains a short-sighted proposal, lacking vision and apparently driven solely by the desire to raise money.
“There is no evidence that the scheme has the support of the local community, and it is contrary to many of the City’s own policies.
“This is an outstanding site crying out for an imaginative scheme respecting its heritage and location.
“We once more invite the City to stop, think again and work with us and the wider community to develop a scheme worthy of the site, the City and London itself.”
Barnaby Spurrier of Barbican Quarter Action, said: “The Museum of London and Bastion House were designed as a part of the original Barbican complex, and the City of London must be a good-faith guardian of this unique cultural legacy.
“That is why Barbican Quarter Action is calling on all those who love the Barbican Quarter and love London to respond to this consultation telling the City of London to stop, rethink and reset, and work constructively with residents to develop an alternative plan which achieves community buy-in and contributes to their ambitions for a destination city.”
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