{"id":775868,"date":"2025-02-21T14:13:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T14:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=775868"},"modified":"2025-02-24T09:39:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T09:39:32","slug":"inquiry-closes-on-chipperfields-chinese-embassy-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/inquiry-closes-on-chipperfields-chinese-embassy-plans","title":{"rendered":"Inquiry closes on Chipperfield\u2019s Chinese embassy plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Closing statements were made on Wednesday (19 February) by interested parties, including Tower Hamlets Council \u2013 which has twice refused<\/a> the scheme \u2013 and lawyers representing the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

Housing and communities secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will now decide on the scheme, which was last rejected in December<\/a> by the local authority, citing security and heritage fears.<\/p>\n

Last month, Labour home secretary Yvette Cooper and foreign secretary David Lammy signalled cautious support<\/a> for the proposals on the basis that China introduces a hard perimeter to the embassy, which if built, would be the largest in Europe.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the planning inspector, the senior government figures requested that China remove unrestricted public access to a proposed cultural centre holding medieval abbey ruins. As the plans stand, due to diplomatic inviolability, emergency services would need permission from the Chinese ambassador to access the small, paved forecourt and the pavilion – both classed as belonging to the embassy – in the circumstances, for instance, of a health issue with a member of public visiting the centre.<\/p>\n

The hard perimeter came up in oral evidence this week when David Chipperfield Architects’ director Oliver Ulmer told the inquiry the cultural building had been designed to provide an active frontage with views from a new \u2018Cultural Exchange\u2019 square at the east of the complex into Cistercian abbey ruins inside.<\/p>\n

Ulmer continued by saying that the public square in front of the embassy was \u2018fundamental\u2019 to the design \u2013 a statement seemingly countering Cooper and Lammy\u2019s demands for the hard perimeter. He added: \u2018The [cultural] building represents the notion of exchange, sitting on the street mediating between the private campus and the public streetscape.\u2019<\/p>\n

Christopher Katkowski, representing the Chinese government, had told the inquiry on an earlier day (11 February) that his client had \u2018no desire or intention to change the scheme in the way in which it has been suggested\u2019.<\/p>\n

In November Chipperfield\u2019s designs became the centre of a diplomatic spat, with prime minister Keir Starmer raising the issue<\/a> of the Chinese embassy plans during his first face-to-face meeting with China\u2019s president, Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n

The same month, reports emerged of a political tit-for-tat<\/a> between London and Beijing over plans for new UK embassy buildings, including one designed by Eric Parry Architects, believed to have been put on hold by China.<\/p>\n

Local councillors, human rights groups and Hong Kong democracy activists have previously raised concerns over China\u2019s plans for the Royal Mint site, in view of the country\u2019s alleged mistreatment of Uighur Muslims. Tower Hamlets has the largest Muslim population of any local authority in England and Wales, at 39.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is simply the wrong place for this embassy to be,\u2019 said senior Conservative Tom Tugendhat in comments to the New York Times<\/em><\/a> this week. He added: \u2018But it is also the wrong thing to have. We already have too much state repression, too much influence, too much aggression.\u2019<\/p>\n

David Chipperfield himself has previously been criticised for accepting the contentious commission (Is the new Chinese embassy Chipperfield\u2019s most controversial job?<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Asked by the inquiry chair this week why the practice had taken part in the design competition for the embassy, Ulmer replied: \u2018The office I work for has always been involved with the reconfiguration of very important historic sites, and so this is one that does really interest us from an architectural perspective.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"David

David Chipperfield Architects\u2019 plans to rework the Royal Mint into a new complex for the Chinese Embassy (as submitted June 2021) – view of new entrance pavilion<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n

Although the Metropolitan Police last month withdrew its objection in relation to protests, concerns remain around the impact of residents on the site, as well as nearby information cables connecting the City and Whitehall to Canary Wharf.<\/p>\n

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith told Times Radio<\/a> this week (16 February): \u2018[The scheme] is alongside some very important cables that take data and information through Canary Wharf, to the City and to various government departments, and that is really one of the reasons why I believe China wants it there so they can get access to that.\u2019<\/p>\n

The US congressional committee on China has also criticised the proposals on security grounds and wrote on X: \u2018The PRC\u2019s mega-embassy in the UK raises significant security concerns: from interference and surveillance to risks for sensitive infrastructure like London\u2019s financial services. We must work to urgently address this issue and work with our allies to protect national security.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"

David Chipperfield Architects’ proposed cultural centre for a new China embassy<\/p>\n\t

Source:David Chipperfield Architects<\/p><\/div>\n

Chipperfield\u2019s 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 previously said: \u2018National security is the first duty of Government. It has been our core priority throughout this process.<\/p>\n

\u2018That 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

\u2018A 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.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Chinese Embassy said the original reasons for refusal by Tower Hamlets in December 2022 were \u2018without merit and have no basis in planning policy\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The design evolution from competition to pre planning to submission of a planned cultural exchange centre<\/p>\n\t

Source:David Chipperfield Architects<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Closing statements were made on Wednesday (19 February) by interested parties, including Tower Hamlets Council \u2013 which has twice refused the scheme \u2013 and lawyers representing the Chinese government. Housing and communities secretary and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will now decide on the scheme, which was last rejected in December by the local authority, …<\/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":"\nInquiry closes on Chipperfield\u2019s Chinese embassy plans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The six-day-long inquiry into David Chipperfield Architects\u2019 (DCA) controversial proposals for a 2.4ha Chinese embassy at Royal Mint Court ended this week\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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