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50 Fenchurch Street
50 FENCHURCH STREET
Including a Proposal for The Clothworkers’ Seventh Livery Hall
The Clothworkers’ Company has been on its existing site since its founding in 1528, when The Fullers’ and The Shearmen united and decided to remain at Shearmen’s Hall on Mincing Lane.
Over the centuries, Clothworkers’ Hall has changed out of opportunity or necessity – such as the destruction of the third hall by The Great Fire of London (1666) and that of the fifth hall by The Blitz (1941). The hall we are all familiar with today is the sixth on this historic site, opened in 1958. It is our home and the scene of fellowship among members. But it is also our place of work, where we fulfil our civic duties to the City of London, manage our extensive assets and strive to meet our commitments to our textiles partners, our military affiliates, our partners in championing good charity governance, and – in particular – to The Clothworkers’ Foundation. For nearly 500 years, generous bequests from Clothworkers and other benefactors, coupled with wise investments by the Court, have enabled The Company to thrive and grow not only its assets, but also its impact through grant-making.
This past autumn, we announced our plans for the evolution of Clothworkers’ Hall, securing its future here in the City of London and maximising our assets to increase our charitable impact. We recently submitted our bold proposal for the development of a new Livery Hall, commercial building and public realm for planning permission. The project aims to redevelop the island site that includes Clothworkers’ Hall.
The new commercial development (‘50 Fenchurch Street’), will be at the forefront of the City of London’s strategy for a greener, more environmentally sustainable Square Mile, offer the City modern office and retail space, create a new public realm and improve access to the historic church tower and crypt.
The new Clothworkers’ Hall will be designed with our future needs in mind – including the responsible management of our historic assets, together with the comfort and wellbeing of our staff, members and guests. It is important to all of us that we take the time necessary to plan properly for our seventh hall on this historic site, and we look forward to sharing those plans with you – as they develop – in the months to come.
Meanwhile, we’ve made further details about the current application, mostly concerning the planned commercial building and new public realm, available in the Members’ Area of the website, and included some of that information in the following pages...
THE CURRENT SITE
50 Fenchurch Street is an island site bounded by Fenchurch Street, Mincing Lane, Dunster Court, and Mark Lane. The site is owned by The Company. Apart from the Grade I-listed Tower of All Hallows Staining and the Grade II-listed Lambe’s Chapel Crypt, all the buildings were built after 1945. These buildings include Clothworkers’ Hall, Minster House, 46-50 Fenchurch Street, 51-54 Fenchurch Street and St Olave’s Church Hall.
Star Alley cuts across the northeast corner of the site. The surrounding pavements are limited in width, congested at peak times and present a poor public realm environment. There is a clear opportunity to improve the public realm, access and routes across the site.
The current site from Mark Lane.
OUR PROPOSAL
50 Fenchurch Street will offer the City of London the first of a new generation of buildings with an integrated urban greening strategy.
Central to this proposal is the creation of more than 3,000 sq m of new public space. The growth of the City of London puts ever greater pressure on existing public areas. The public realm at street level has been designed to improve access routes for pedestrians through the City. The building has been set back from Fenchurch Street to improve pedestrian flows across congested pavements. We will provide generous cycle facilities, to encourage building occupiers to travel more sustainably. The new public realm will reveal and make accessible the Tower of All Hallows Staining in a new setting, sympathetic to the historic asset. The design will also provide access to Lambe’s Chapel Crypt, which is not currently open to the public.
A new Clothworkers’ Hall will be located on the eastern side of the site, largely beneath the new proposed public realm. This will be The Company’s seventh hall, continuing its 500-year history on this site.
As part of the City of London’s initiative for a significant increase in urban greening in the built environment, an innovative vertical landscaping proposal forms part of the overall design. All of this is in conjunction with providing the next generation of workplace, which is essential for the City of London’s continued growth as a leading global financial centre.
REVEALING OUR HISTORIC ASSETS
The proposed 50 Fenchurch Street includes two historic buildings, the Grade I-listed Tower of All Hallows Staining and the Grade II-listed Lambe’s Chapel Crypt, which are not currently accessible to the public.
The Tower is all that remains of the church from 1218/9. It is currently enveloped in a raised ground level. This impairs the perception of the Tower, as well as adversely affecting its historic fabric. The Crypt was originally located beneath Lambe’s Chapel on Monkwell Street and was relocated to its current position in 1872. The present Crypt is regarded as a poor re-configuration of the original.
View of the new public realm from the corner of Mark Lane and London Street.
NEW PUBLIC REALM
The proposed plan reveals the Tower of All Hallows Staining without the barrier of the present raised ground levels, making it a focal point of the new public square.
A landscape proposal uncovers layers of history of the site and offers a new place for the public to experience and enjoy. Trees and landscaping create an intimacy of scale for people using the space. Raised planted mounds and seating are incorporated. The interpretation of the original church nave provides an opportunity for events and seasonal activities, and will offer those working in the area a tranquil place to meet and relax. The new public realm will be a celebration of the City’s history and culture, and enhance the wellbeing of its workforce and residents.
Within the generous public realm of approximately 1,500 sq m area at street level, a new pedestrian route will be created beneath the main building through a 16 m high opening which links the new public realm and Church Tower to Fenchurch Street, the Eastern Cluster and the City beyond.
Meanwhile, the entrance to the new public roof garden and Lambe’s Chapel Crypt is accessed from the new public realm at street level.
NEW PUBLIC ROOF GARDEN
Level 10 offers a 360-degree public viewing experience. It is accessed via two public lifts at street level, allowing visitors to arrive at a generous terrace with spectacular views over London. The terrace is punctuated by unique sculptural elements of vertical planting. The custom-designed ‘seedlings’ replicate, in an abstract form, the way that seedlings take root in seemingly inhospitable places, emerging and then thriving. Their tall forms provide maximum planting whilst offering the opportunity for people to enjoy a new social space in the City. The ‘seedlings’ are fabricated from cross-laminated timber and perforated to filter wind. They allow glimpsed views through and provide structure on which plants can grow.
A double-height winter garden is designed for the public to access throughout the year. It is positioned on the south side of the building, directly adjacent to the external terrace and the public lobby, enabling both the plants and the public to benefit from its aspect.
To complement the public’s enjoyment of the Level 10 winter garden and roof garden, an informal restaurant / café is proposed. This will allow members of the public — without obligation — to benefit from the food and beverage offer when visiting the space, in contrast to the more formal restaurant offers of other City roof gardens.
Inside the double-height winter garden and outside on the public roof terrace at level 10.
ENERGY, GREENING & SUSTAINABILITY
The design of the development is aiming to be best in class for energy performance, incorporating the latest technology to ensure the tower continues to set a standard into the future. In line with the Mayor’s Energy Strategy, the approach adopted includes the envelope of the building – this involves a highly efficient, responsive façade that optimises the balance of daylight solar control to minimise energy consumption and heat recovery chillers that recycle waste heat, harnessing it in hot water production, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
From a sustainability perspective, several key measures are proposed to ensure the impact on the environment is minimised and, where possible, improved. These include enhancing ecological value through extensive greening, SUDS systems to reduce urban runoff, and intelligent design to minimise material use. The development team is targeting BREEAM Excellent, reflecting our commitment to sustainability.
Nature is vital to help cities stay healthy and liveable. This is even more important in cities like London, with an expanding population. 50 Fenchurch Street offers a unique combination of a public square on street level, a public winter garden and public roof garden at level 10, and vertical landscaping to the exterior of the building. 50 Fenchurch Street will be the first building of this scale to incorporate extensive vertical greening (or landscaping) in the Square Mile.
Urban greening has a number of widely recognised benefits, including:
• Improving biodiversity
• Rainwater run-off
• Mitigating air and noise pollution
• Temperature regulation
• Making a place more visually desirable
This will benefit both those working in the building and the wider public. 50 Fenchurch Street aspires to lead the way to a greener, more environmentally sustainable City of London.
COMMERCIAL TOWER
50 Fenchurch Street will provide over 62,000 sq m of flexible office space arranged around a central core. Floor plates vary in size to maximise the building’s appeal to a range of City occupiers.
The innovative external design significantly enhances the environmental performance of the façade. At ground, the bespoke ceramic cladding provides a quality and identity to the building. The podium is characterised with a seamless glazed appearance that sets it apart from the more expressed façade of the ground and tower floors. The tower floors have a bespoke profiled glass detail that provides a sense of shadow and reflection. When combined with the vertical landscaping, this creates a unique building for the City skyline.
The ground floor reception is generous and can be subdivided, offering the opportunity for a dedicated entrance for an ‘anchor’ occupier.
The office accommodation will be served by double decker lifts. These will be separate to the dedicated lifts serving the publicly accessible area.
A view of the City of London's 'Eastern Cluster', including the proposed development of 50 Fenchurch Street, as seen from the south bank (City Hall).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Where are we in the process?
A: We submitted our application for planning permission in December 2019.
Q: When will all of this happen?
A: We are in the very early stages of the process, waiting for the decision on our application for planning permission; plans for the commercial tower and livery hall are likely to evolve in the coming months. If a development were to proceed, work on site could not begin before 2022.
There would then be an estimated 10 months of demolition (including archaeological and conservation activities). It is estimated that the building of a commercial tower and new livery hall would take an additional four years.
Q: What will we do whilst the new livery hall is in development?
A: We are currently carefully considering all our options for The Company’s and The Foundation’s ongoing operations, providing for staff and continuing to run events. Our firm commitment to members is to maintain a variety of events (as close as possible to our normal programme), but in an alternative venue whilst we demolish and rebuild the Clothworkers’ Hall. Concrete plans will take shape once we are certain the project can move forward.
We will use the e-newsletter and this magazine to communicate our plans, as they evolve and become finalised, throughout the process.
Eric Parry (the awardwinning architect responsible for cultural projects involving sensitive historic buildings, including the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath and the renewal project for St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square).
View of the proposed development from Fenchurch Street, looking east.
