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Liberal Democrat controlled Liverpool Council has dealt the next stage of high-rise development in the City a blow with the recommendation to refuse Beetham West Tower despite the planning report recommending it be approved.
The whole episode has descended into acrimony with neighbours of the proposed tower, Unisys threatening to leave Liverpool if the tower goes up as it is only 22m from their headquarters as it violates the human rights of their staff, an ironic argument given their record on summary dismissal. This is despite the planning report showing there are no issues involving sunlight and the fact that their lease would prevent them from leaving the building.
Liverpool council have also attacked the development for the lack of parking spaces although they are simultaneously trying to reduce the amount of people driving through the city centre and the parking space issue is to be the major reason for the council rejecting the project although it conforms perfectly with their U.D.P.
It's believed that the council's main concern is infact the Kings Dock development which they are a major partner in, this development is expected to have at least 2 22 storey residential towers and any rival developments acts as competition with any potential oversaturation of the residential market threatening future development - namely that by Liverpool Council. However as a potential get-out Liverpool Council have requested further reports before they make their final decision.
Beetham who are based in Liverpool and kickstarted development with their first tower are expected to appeal against the decision if it is seen through.

Brunswick Quay in Liverpool also faces rejection from the council after arguments against the development by the planning committee who believe it would not contribute enough to the regeneration of Liverpool.
The Ian Simpson penned project which is funded exclusively by private money is worth an investment of approximately £120 million to Liverpool however a number of small businesses currently located on the site would be forced to move to alternate accomodation. Liverpool council did however find to legalise prostitution.
They also attacked the height of the tower which at 166m was deemed too tall for it's location as there are no other tall buildings in the area despite plans by other developers to build tall buildings in the vicinity as the area has been earmarked for industrial use rather than the residential use 500 flats would provide. There was also concern that the development breached the councils Unitary Development Policy by being a tall building out of the core zone of towers along Liverpool waterfront.
Maro Developments are expected to appeal against the decision.

Details have been released of the plans for the redevelopment of Battersea Power-station, and this time unlike the numerous previous attempts, they look like actually going ahead.
The 100 metre tall power-station which has become an icon piece of architecture in London, perhaps what is most closely associated with the industrial age, has been struck with problems ever since it was shut partly thanks to its listed status and the sheer size of any project to incorporate it into a new design.
The first stage of the work is the repairs on the building which has been lying empty for over 20 years. These should allow the £500 million work by developer Parkview International to begin on the surrounding projects in around May for a 2009 completion.
The masterplan includes a sweeping crescent luxury hotel containing 460 rooms overlooking a public square, a second hotel of multicoloured modernist-like blocks with 670 rooms, residential buildings totalling 700 studios and apartments not to mention 21,000 sq m of offices. Other changes include a brand new Battersea Bridge railway station, an entirely new pedestrian bridge, 136,000 sq m of retail space and an 800 capacity ball room.
Top names including Arup Associates and Grimshaw are involved in the design and engineering. This is the latest mega project to get underway in London, north London has already seen Wembley Stadium and the surrounding area start work, which incidentally skyscrapernews.com will soon be visiting to report from.

Construction has begun on the latest tall building for Liverpool, the 88m tall Alexandra Tower on Princess Dock for Millenium Estates. The 27 floor tall tower will contain 184 apartments and is the latest of a glut of new towers under construction in Liverpool following hot on the heels of the nearby 73m tall Princess Dock tower for City Lofts and the twin Unity Towers.

EXCLUSIVE - Planning permission has been extended by five years for Arena Central tower in Birmingham. With permission for a 175m tall to roof and 245m tall to the tip of the spire, the project has been suffering set-backs ever since it was originally granted in 2000 in stark contrast to the succesful towers now going up in Manchester. Much of the problems have been caused by the reliance on office space in filling the tower just as that section of the property market hit a downturn.
Despite this and many rumours the extension of planning permission shows the project is clearly alive and kicking and a new design with more heavily residential use of space in the form of the successful Beetham towers across the country is expected to surface in 2005.

The Vauxhall planning jam is continuing with details having been released of yet another planned residential tower for the area. Designed by Rolfe Judd for Spring Gardens next to Vauxhall railway station for CLS Holdings the tower of approximately 100m tall will also feature a large retail and leisure development to help rejuvenate the area. We'll be surprised if this one gets anywhere before the plannin inspectorate rule on St George's Wharf.

EXCLUSIVE - The planned Gensler Associates designed tower for Ropemaker Place at 24 Ropemaker Street in the City of London looks like going ahead following the beginning of the demolition of the tower. The 24 floor neighbour to Citypoint is being developed by DB Real Estate Investment GmBH, which will be their first major project to hit the skyline in London.
The blue glass tower looks like being the latest medium rise to start construction in the City after a slow period at the nadir of the property cycl, recent months have seen Royex House, the Willis Building on Lime Street and 1 Commercial Street have all recently started.
The site was previously the location of a planned 200 metre tall tilting tower by Sheppard Robson which was withdrawn. Despite approval, this current design was criticised by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone for being too short.

EXCLUSIVE - John McAlsan and Partners are working on a new tower to stand next to Lots Road Powerstation, on the Fulham side. The residential tower of about 100m is the latest proposal for an area mired in acrimony.
Kensington and Chelsea Council have refused planning permission to the proposed 88m Lots Road tower which is now going through the appeal process whilst Fulham Council have approved the 122m tower on their side.

EXCLUSIVE -The government's civil service cutbacks as part of their triangulation against Conservative Party campaigning on government waste has seen the amount of time it will take planning appeals to be processed to boom.
The 181m tall St George's Wharf Tower in Vauxhall has been the latest victim of this. We understand that the developers expected a decision in December 2004, six months after the appeal was filed and one has not yet been forthcoming and isn't expected for several months more.
As well as casting into doubt this decision it has put a dampener on other developments in the area controlled by Lambeth Council who are rapidly developing a reputation for being the most anti-skyscraper council in London.
Other developments include the 32 floor, 100m tall Albert Embankment Tower which the council refused to determine the planning application of in required time. The devloper Texaco have not appealed against as they are instead waiting to see the results of the St George's Wharf appeal first.
Buildings in pre-planning which have also been stalled by this include a 180m tall tower on Vauxhall Bondway, and two towers of a similar height on Nine Elms Lane.
The end result is that over 1000 new homes, including at least 250 affordable units are stalled in Lambeth, one of the boroughs in London with the largest need for greater amounts of housing.

The planning committee is to meet to decide the fate of 1 Millharbour after the application was withdrawn from the December meeting by the applicant Ballymore properties.
The towers are expected to be given full approval, and if built will mark the first substantial highrise development on in the slow to develop Millenium Quarter. The tallest tower is 139m to roof and 160m to the tip of the spire. Development of them is expected following the completion of New Providence Wharf, whilst marketing has already been prepared.

EXCLUSIVE - Elphinstone Place in Glasgow has seen the latest designs for it by local heroes Cooper Cromar released. The 134m tall mixed-use tower, which has had planning permission applied for, represents the final stage of the long transition from the initial design competition and the winning Trinity Towers design.
The tower is the first of a new generation of true tall buildings for Glasgow, a city which is still Britain's second highrise city thanks to the enormous number of tower blocks built there in the 1960s.
Despite the harmful effects of these, Glasgow has been largely forgiving, with a massive drive for regeneration in the many apocalyptical looking areas of city. Elphinstone Place is leading the race and approval from the council, particularly after the latest design revisions to take into account the planners opinions, looks more than likely for the first half of next year.

The 139m tall and 119m tall 1 Millharbour towers and 98m tall Reuters Wharf are due to go before the planning committee of Tower Hamlets Council. They are the latest residential developments to be proposed on the Isle of Dogs as part of the borough's plans to build 9000 new homes.
The Millharbour towers, the tallest of which is 160m to spire, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merril represent the tallest towers in the Millenium Quarter, and Ballymore, the developer have already started marketing them to potential purchasers suggesting that development cannot be far off. Given New Providence Wharf, another Ballymore development, is on the final stage they will need a new docklands one to continue to meet the demand for apartments in the area.
Reuters Wharf which is next door to New Providence Wharf is a similar development and demand for it as with the neighbouring project should be heavy.
Approval for both these projects should be a formality although construction is unlikely to start until early 2006.

Revealed plans show Manchester is set to get another tower with the 188m tall proposal for Eastgate in Manchester.
The 60 floor glass tower standing next to Piccadilly Station is the landmark phase of a £220 million development to regenerate the area. Eastgate will contain 700 apartments plus a 250 room hotel plus a skybar on the 16th floor providing impressive views of Manchester all the way to the Pennines.
Eastside is the fifth Manchester skyscraper proposal in just 18 months after Hilton Deansgate, 1 Hardman Square, Greengate and Quays Point reflecting an increasingly confident market for central urban living.

Proposals have been announced for Quays Point in Salford, Manchester for four new landmark towers as part of the growing residential cluster there. The four tower plan on what has been dubbed the 'Dock 9 Site' consists of buildings of 52, 36, 36 and 25 floors. Containing 89,000 sq m of office space plus 800 new flats and a cultural center to make the development gel with neighbouring cultural buildings, the Imperial War Museum North, and the Lowry, it represents a new level in ambition for an out of London development.
The Fairhurst Design Group working for developers Peel Holdings alongside engineers Arup have clearly turned in a quartet of smooth and slick towers, perhaps a deliberate contrast from the current mid-rise crop which are more structurally blocky. From a stylistic point of view these are following in whats becoming a traditional wedge-shape for Manchester giving the area its 11th to 14th slanting towers.
Perhaps more interestingly Manchester is clearly going down a route similar to London of developing two skylines, one in the traditional city center and another in Salford Dock where these will provide a pinnacle.The tallest should easily excede the height of Beetham's tower on Hilton Deansgate thanks to its 50 floors, plus the double and triple height atriums and sloping roof pushing it up further, although whether it breaks the 200m limit set by the Greengate tower remains to be seen.
Given the record of Manchester, and Salford councils in welcoming buildings such as this progression through the planning system should be relatively smooth whilst it lays to rest the naysayers who have claimed that Manchesters development had peaked. How long it takes to build is another thing entirely, that's a lot of space to be filled.

3 Hardman Square in Spinningfields, Manchester has seen a pre-let signed for it with law firm Halliwells planning on making it their new headquarters. The 92m tall international style building will be the second tallest of the Hardman Square development. Designed by Foster and Partners it'll be the tallest office development outside London. Planning permission was applied for in September of this year, with a smooth progress expected through the receptive Manchester planning system which has been nothing short of welcoming to new developments.
Halliwells plan on taking 11,148 sq m of the 16,722 sq m tower from developer Allied London with flexible options for occupying more space should there be future demand. Thanks to the substantial pre-let construction is due to start in March 2005. The lease also includes the lower-rise and neighbouring 4 Hardman Square.

EXCLUSIVE - Brighton is to see its second major tower proposal in a week with announcements from tower builders Beetham of a planned new landmark tower on the New England Redevelopment next to the main station. The 122m tall tower will consist of 160 new apartments of which 55 will be affordable, and a 200 room hotel over 42 floors plus a sky garden. Designed by Allies and Morrison the development runs in direct competition with the Marina development planned for the opposite side of the seafront, being scheduled for a 2007 opening rather than the Marinas 2010.
Brighton has a history of residential towers which include Sussex Heights at 102m. Despite the relatively small population there is plenty of demand for such buildings from both the hip, liberal, young population that have made it an alternative mecca, and the older wealthier population such as Roger Moore who treat it almost as England's answer to Monaco thanks to the upmarket reputation.
So far the tower has recieved a luke-warm welcome, complaints from locals are less about the height than about the actual design quality thanks to the Gherkin in London having raised the expected design level.
The rectangular tower features some heavy nods to structural expressionism with a complex metalwork running up the narrow fascades of the building, whilst the main faces feature yellow and white cladding split up into an irregular international style patchwork.
Public consultation is to start this week and it's generally thought Beetham will get their latest design through Brighton's planning system relatively unscathed in terms of bulk, it may not be as slick as the local rival but it's certainly not ugly and at this stage there's plenty that the design can be polished with. Some experts though remain sceptical on the chances of the project's succes and expect heavy opposition from some groups of locals.

EXCLUSIVE - Here's an exclusive first look at the planned tower for Brighton Marina proposed by Brunswick Developments and designed by Wilkinson Eyre. The 40 floor tower will be 128m tall, creating a new tallest tower for Brighton. It's part of an overhaul of the marina that will see 900 new apartments created, including 396 of which will be affordale housing, an observation platform at the top giving commanding views of the area and new shops. There will also be a leisure area and the masterplan includes two new bridges linking the area to Brighton seafront more closely.
Deliberately organic in design with its flowing curves its intended to draw inspiration from the sea around it and the cliffs behind it, the colour scheme of the development is a deliberate expression of the famous white painted buildings that can be seen on Brighton's seafront.
This proposal combined with a planned but as yet unreleased tower by Beetham, a series of 20 floor tall towers designed by the famous architect Frank Ghery, and the City Gateway tower showing the demand for central contained housing in Brighton.

EXCLUSIVE - In what is a controversial move Liverpool Council have refused planning permission to Maro Developments proposed skyscraper at Brunswick Quay.
Giving reasons for this decision the council defended their stance as a necessary way of protecting the local economy from a development that only the rich would benefit from. Businesses employing around 100 people are located on the site and the council will not allow any development that will see them moved to a new location. However, the council have no compulsion in recently approving developments, they have been invovled in, that have seen businesses employing hundreds of people forced to move.
The council also raised concerns about the tower being a landmark so far away from the center of Liverpool which is shown in these exclusive images. They have however failed to take into account the placing of the two cathedrals and Radio City Tower all of which are existing landmarks but arguably as inappropiately placed. The decision also throws into stark relief the inability and even fear of local planners to create new landmarks.
Despite this the project was praised by the council for its level of design however in the planning process being a high-quality building is not enough.
The 166m tall Brunswick Quay, budgeted at £120,000,000 is the latest development by Ian Simpson architects who are becoming synonymous with residential skyscrapers in the U.K. Simpson has already led an attack on the council for their lack of vision comparing them unfavourably to Leeds and Manchester, and Maro Developments are set to appeal against the ruling.

Leeds is set to get a second major residential skyscraper, the Venture Tower, following hot on the heels of Criterion Place. The development will see an existing planning application amended so that a new 40 storey tower plus casino and entertainment complex can be built on the site as the second phase of the West Central Scheme which will sit next to a 17 floor existing tower.
Partners in the £120 million project are Sterling Capitol, Scarborough and Bank of Scotland and the appointed architect for the scheme is Carey Jones who it is understood are encouraged that Leeds council have been receptive to highrise proposals which are coming in thick and fast.
Thanks to some imaginative planning within the council and aspirations to place the city alongside Manchester in terms of prestige and importance, Leeds is undergoing it's most substantial postwar transformation with a series of towers around the 100m mark due to start in the next year.

Redwell Investments have launched plans for a new twin tower complex off Westferry Road 100m south of Canary Wharf at 22 Marshwall. The towers designed by Squire and Partners will reach 40 floors and 140m, and 110m tall respectively and stand directly behind the Cascades. In them will be some 600 new flats, and approximately 1,500 sq m of retail space on the lower levels.
This is the latest design from Redwell for this site, they had previously planned a 40m tall egg shaped tower which was dropped in 2001. This plan should have more luck though, with the 200m+ Riverside South next to it heights are scarcely likely to be an issue, its more feasible that hurdles with Tower Hamlets planning department will come from the lack of affordable housing, which is set at only 25% presently and will clearly have to increase, and any planning gain to be invested in the local infrastructure from the development. This issue is becoming increasingly contentious as Canary Wharf have found out. If successful construction should be starting in 2005.

Songbird Plc (the new name for the Canary Wharf Group), have announced that developer SKMC will definitely be starting construction on the proposed 237m tall Columbus Tower in 2005. SKMC are currently said to be negotiating with present site occupiers Barclays who are expected to vacate the site in the coming six months. Due to the makeup of the development, only a hotel lease is required for construction to start and there should be no shortage of takers for what will be the tallest hotel rooms in London.

Prolific residential tower builders Beetham have released details of their latest project, a second residential tower in Liverpool. Beetham Tower 2, or the Bullet as its been dubbed, is expected to reach 130m tall over its 40 floors.
Planned for a site adjacent to the existing tower closer to the waterfront, its clearly designed to be complimentary with its curves, similar slim-line profile, and the cladding from a distance matching the existing tower. Despite the similarities the tower features a stepped top which will contain five floors of open terraces for the penthouses, and has been rotated 90 degrees to provide a contrast to the existing tower.
With a budget of £35 million, it is due to be submitted for planning permission this month. If approved construction is expected to begin sometime in 2005 and will be the tallest building in Liverpool.

The prolific architect and Beetham tower building favourite, Ian Simpson has released initial images of a planned 165m tower in Newcastle at Gallowgate. The £200 million, 140,000sq m project is being designed Downing Developments and will contain 1,000 student units, 650 key-worker units and 30,000sq m of offices and shops next to Newcastle United's stadium.
With a higly sculptural form, featuring what appears to be identical cladding to Criterion Place and Manchester Beetham, and a few curves aside, identical massing to Brunswick Quay in Liverpool there is increasing criticism about the lack of originality in the designs and creating the 21st century equivalent of council block - almost identikit towers all across the country. The illustration shows Gallowgate on the left and Brunswick on the right.
It remains to be seen whether the tower, which is the latest in a line of landmark skyscrapers that every major city in the country is seeing proposed, will get anywhere in Newcastle. The local counci supported by vocal NIMBYS l is notoriously anti highrise having seen off plans for a 32 floor 100m tall tower on the banks of the Tyne in August, 2004 which raises questions of just how far this tower can progress without serious revisions in height, even despite its more acceptable location.

The planned construction of London Bridge Tower looks like descending into acrimony following PriceWaterhouseCoopers announcement that they would not take space in the new tower and nor would they vacate the site which they currently occupy.
Despite incorrect media reports, PWCs refusal to accept office space in the new development, which will be Europe's tallest does not put the project under threat as LBT like many other major buildings is not dependent on an immediate period of rental. The refusal to leave does however threaten to delay the project by up to a year, demolition was originally scheduled to start in July 2004.
Developer Sellar Properties is expected to serve notice giving PWC 12 months to vacate the building or face legal action, an indication if ever there was one of the seriousness they are approaching the project with.

Ian Simpson's landmark design for Leeds, Criterion Place, has been awarded outline planning permission by the local council. At 160m tall and rising to 47 and 29 floors the tower represents a new chapter in the Leeds skyline race against Manchester and Birmingham, something unseen since the Victorian scramble for prestige with industrial cities building new cathedrals and ever taller town halls.
The tower which is being designed for developers Simons Estates is the winner of a competition to find a new civic icon for the 21st century. The twin shards of glass will provide an archway over a new urban quarter, hundreds of residential units and an indoor garden at the top of the taller tower. The shorter one will have a viewing platform which will provide commanding vistas across Leeds to the Yorkshire Dales.
There's no date on construction yet but it's looking like 2005 and with such an outrageous design Leeds can expect to really put itself on the map again.

Things don't stand still in London's Docklands for long and with New Providence Wharf having seen the completion of phase four work looks set to start on the centerpiece, the 104.5m AOD tall Ontario Tower. The lip-stick shaped 29 floor tower will provide hotel rooms and serviced apartments with restaurant and health club on the lower levels and is the final phase of the scheme. Work by Irish construction group Ballymore who have invested heavily in purchasing sites in the Isle of Dogs and its immediate environs is expected to around the end of this year.... and no sooner do we write that than pile drivers appear on site.

Multiplex have teamed with Tesco and architects BUJ to develop a site in Kensington near Earl's Court that has been dubbed 'Multiplex Living'. The landmark tower is set to present a rival on the skyline to the Empress State Building which has been alone on the skyline since the 1960s but recently seen work to bring the tower up to date.
We understand a number of designs were originally mooted for the Multiplex site, their first residential development in the U.K, including one which reached 183m/600ft in height over the space of 50 floors which contained 300 units. This has since been reduced and it's looking more and more likely the tower will come in to around the 400ft mark. 
Despite their seeming inexperience of the U.K residential market Multiplex aren't exactly newbies as they do have a history of building in large residential projects in Australia and are currently the contractors working on Wembley Stadium.
Although Kensington and Chelsea are notoriously conservative (just look at the ongoing issues with Lots Road) this area of the Borough isn't the poshest and as the rebuild of the Empress State Building shows planners are not opposed to towers nor towers being increased in height in the area. There's certainly few blue blooded residents to campaign against such a tower with any impact to the council whilst it is close to the transport interchange of Earls Court, there's no strategic views to break, and the area is slightly dilapidated.
This one we expect to go ahead and an application for planning permission should be filed before the end of the year.

After what looked like a quiet time for construction in London two new towers have started to break ground, in Southwark there is Tabard Square whilst the Aragon Tower in Lewisham is being rebuilt as the new and taller Z Tower.
Tabard Square which was revealed on this site several years ago is approved for 21 floors having been reduced in height during the application process from 28 floors but another application has been lodged to increase the height again, this time to 26 storeys, the spire from the original design has however been removed. We're told this should bring in the building at 99m tall and make it currently the joint third tallest in Southwark.
It has been designed by Rolfe Judd for Berkley Homes. When finished the project, which is just 200m from the London Bridge Tower site, will contain 521 units of which 40 will be key worker and 122 affordable, a figure thats puzzlingly low given the proximity of the scheme to Guys Hospital nonetheless it represents a welcome move at developing Southwark into somewhere a bit less run down.
The Aragon Tower is a former council block on Deptford Riverside which is getting increased to 31 floors from it's current 26 and is part of the latest trend for recycling older towers, something much less wasteful than demolition. In this case work involves building 14 penthouses on the top. It's currently 78m tall but this height increase should knock it up to around the 100m mark too.
More construction is expected in this area which looks like rapidly gentrifying over the next few years. Richard Rogers has master-planned the docks around Deptford and News International are rumoured to be planning a major development that includes 3 new skyscrapers but that however looks some way away, not least thanks to the delays in getting Crossrail off the ground.