{"id":770882,"date":"2025-01-17T10:19:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T10:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=770882"},"modified":"2025-01-17T11:36:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T11:36:46","slug":"ministers-signal-support-for-chipperfields-called-in-chinese-embassy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/ministers-signal-support-for-chipperfields-called-in-chinese-embassy","title":{"rendered":"Ministers signal support for Chipperfield\u2019s called-in Chinese Embassy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plans for the proposed 2.3ha embassy complex<\/a> next to Tower Bridge were called in by the communities secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in October<\/a>. A planning inquiry is due to be held on the scheme.<\/p>\n

On Monday (14 January), foreign secretary David Lammy and home secretary Yvette Cooper wrote a letter to the Planning Inspectorate arguing it was right for China to \u2018carry out its diplomatic work in the United Kingdom, as the United Kingdom does in China\u2019\u00a0 and that it was important for Britain and China to have \u2018functioning diplomatic premises in each other\u2019s capitals\u2019 \u2013 phrases that appear to signal their support of the scheme.<\/p>\n

Lammy and Cooper\u2019s comments are the first time UK government ministers have suggested their support for David Chipperfield\u2019s designs for an embassy complex at the former Royal Mint which, if built, could be the biggest embassy in Europe.<\/p>\n

Campaigners and local councillors have long-questioned the Chinese embassy scheme on both national security and political grounds. Last month Tower Hamlet\u2019s planning committee symbolically refused plans resubmitted<\/a> last July.<\/p>\n

Lammy and Cooper added in their letter that the Metropolitan Police had withdrawn an objection about the spaces surrounding the embassy potentially attracting protestors, following assurances over the technical details.<\/p>\n

The intervention by Lammy and Cooper includes conditions about proposed changes to the submitted designs. These include demands for the introduction of a hard perimeter and \u2018the removal of unregulated public access\u2019 to the proposed cultural centre.<\/p>\n

Should the embassy get the green light from Rayner, China has also been asked to consolidate all its London sites into one location.<\/p>\n

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However, speaking to the Evening<\/em> Standard<\/em><\/a>, Tower Hamlets councillor Peter Golds said the letter from Lammy and Cooper was \u2018an extraordinary attempt to influence an independent inquiry into one of the most controversial planning applications seen in decades\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He continued: \u2018This will be the largest embassy in Europe, a centre of potential disinformation located not only on a world heritage site but adjacent to the City of London, a world financial centre.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In November, prime minister Keir Starmer raised the issue<\/a> of the Chinese embassy plans during his first face-to-face meeting with China\u2019s president Xi Jinping. The same month, reports emerged of a\u00a0political tit-for-tat<\/a> between London and Beijing \u2013 where plans for new UK embassy buildings, including one designed by Eric Parry Architects \u2013 were on hold.<\/p>\n

In December 2022 Tower Hamlets councillors refused an application for an identical scheme, a decision<\/span> the Chinese government decided not to appeal against, seemingly abandoning the project<\/a>. As a result, p<\/span>revious<\/span> communities secretary Michael Gove never had the opportunity to rule on the scheme.<\/p>\n

London mayor Sadiq Khan chose not to intervene in the first application, even though concerns had been raised about protests, security and the project\u2019s potential harm to the neighbouring UNESCO World Heritage site at Tower Bridge.<\/p>\n

Protesters and local politicians also opposed the scheme because of China\u2019s repression of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur people \u2013 and David Chipperfield was criticised for accepting the commission (Is the new Chinese embassy Chipperfield\u2019s most controversial job?<\/a>). Tower Hamlets has the largest Muslim population of any local authority in England and Wales, at 39.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

The Chinese Embassy said the original reasons for refusal by Tower Hamlets in December 2022 was \u2018without merit and have no basis in planning policy\u2019 and that it was asking for the plans to be reconsidered.<\/p>\n

Chipperfield’s scheme would refurbish the Grade II*-listed Johnson Smirke Building at the centre of the former Royal Mint site to include embassy space. A public square would be created in front of it, behind the site\u2019s gated entrance.<\/p>\n

The project also includes the restoration and revamp of the Grade II-listed Seaman\u2019s Register, which was remodelled by RMJM in the 1980s. It would create a new Embassy House by splitting up and remodelling the conjoined, Sheppard Robson-designed Murray and Dexter House.<\/p>\n

The longer building, Dexter House, would contain flats for embassy staff. The building\u2019s fa\u00e7ade would be reconfigured to provide a \u2018calmer and more unified\u2019 backdrop to the surrounding listed buildings. Meanwhile, Murray House would be repurposed into a new seven-storey Cultural Exchange building, clad in green ceramic.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>A UK Government spokesperson said: ‘National security is the first duty of Government. It has been our core priority throughout this process.<\/p>\n

‘That is why the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office submitted written representations to reflect these considerations and to note the importance of all states having functioning diplomatic premises in each other\u2019s capitals.<\/p>\n

‘A final decision on this case will be made in due course by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government in her independent, quasi-judicial role.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plans for the proposed 2.3ha embassy complex next to Tower Bridge were called in by the communities secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in October. A planning inquiry is due to be held on the scheme. On Monday (14 January), foreign secretary David Lammy and home secretary Yvette Cooper wrote a letter to the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131789,"featured_media":771042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[3905,2339,3907,5234],"yoast_head":"\nMinisters signal support for Chipperfield\u2019s called-in Chinese Embassy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"David Chipperfield Architects\u2019 contentious plans for a new Chinese Embassy in London seemingly have the support of the foreign and home secretaries ahead of a planning inquiry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/ministers-signal-support-for-chipperfields-called-in-chinese-embassy\" 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