London Mayor gives the thumbs-up to ‘monstrosity’ office block

A HUGE office block will be built in West London despite being branded a “monstrosity” that would “blight” the town.

Plans to build an 11- and 13storey office building in Ealing were given permission by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and City Hall this week after Ealing Council referred the plans for review.

In designs submitted by architects Hutchinson and Partners, offices for 1,600 workers will be built 10 minutes away from Ealing Broadway

Station. The site of the new office block is occupied by CP House, a part five-storey and 12-storey office building, which will be knocked down to make way for the new development.

While the new office block will be built on the same site as the existing building, it will be built closer to the road and take up more floorspace.

The new building will feature a roof garden that workers will be able to use, as well as communal space that could be used as a cafe or co-working space, and bike racks for more than 440 cycles.

Permission was given for the project to go ahead despite concerns from locals over the design and how much sunlight it could block. Forty-one residents commented on Ealing Council’s website to object to the new office block.

One resident was furious that another office block could be built in the borough and wrote: “This monstrosity is an unnecessary blight on Ealing and those neighbours lost in the shadow of it. Ealing does not need more offices. Ealing does not need to build into the clouds.”

Staff at a care home near the new offices raised fears that they would block sunlight coming into their garden. They wrote: “The proposed height and increased footprint of the new proposal at CP House would ruin views, create shadow, restrict sunlight, destroy foliage and directly affect the daily routine and mental wellbeing of our elderly residents.”

A third resident also expressed their worry that the building might block sunlight and wrote: “I strongly object to this proposal. It is too high and too big. There is loss of light and increased pollution in the local area.”

The office block will be built in two phases to minimise disruption to workers based in the current building, with works potentially finishing as early as 2025.

Hutchinson and Partners declined to comment.