London's Square Mile: Where Heritage Meets the Tower Crane
On 28 November, the Museum of London opens its new home inside the Victorian meat halls of Smithfield Market — a building that very nearly ceased to exist. In 2014, after a decade-long fight, Save Britain's Heritage and the Victorian Society stopped developers who wanted to replace the market structures with office tower blocks and retail space (The Art Newspaper). The museum's arrival is the happy ending. The broader battle is not over.
The City of London Corporation — the municipal authority governing the Square Mile, London's historic financial district — is pushing through a wave of development on a scale not seen in years. Its planning department logged a record-breaking year for applications in 2025, granting permission for over half a million square metres of office space (City of London Corporation). City research says at least 1.2 million square metres of additional office space will be needed by 2040 to keep the area globally competitive (City of London Corporation).
The latest flashpoint is 1 Silk Street, a site beside the Barbican — the Grade II-listed brutalist arts and housing complex north of the Square Mile. In May, the Corporation's Planning Applications Sub-Committee approved plans by Lipton Rogers Developments and LaSalle Investment Management for two skyscrapers, 16 and 20 storeys high, plus a plaza and retail space (City of London Corporation). The developers say the scheme will deliver 7.5% of the new office space the Corporation aims to build by 2040 (The Art Newspaper). The site's current tenant, law firm Linklaters, signed a prelet for 14 floors at 20 Ropemaker back in 2020 — totalling 328,192 square feet — with the intention of relocating (CoStar). Campaigners objected to the Silk Street scheme, citing its impact on the Barbican and the Brewery conservation area to the north (The Art Newspaper).
A bigger fight is unfolding at Liverpool Street Station. On 10 February 2026, the Corporation's Planning Committee voted 19 to 3 to approve Network Rail's £1.2 billion redevelopment, designed by architects ACME (Save Britain's Heritage; Construction News). The project includes an expanded concourse and a 97-metre-tall office tower built over it, funded by the commercial space above (The Art Newspaper). Network Rail says passenger numbers at the station will grow 35% by 2041, reaching 158 million a year — the driving justification for the rebuild (The Art Newspaper).
Campaigners object to the demolition the scheme entails: substantial parts of the Bishopsgate conservation area and the newer 1980s and 1990s sections of the Grade II-listed station — not the Victorian fabric — would go (The Art Newspaper). City planning officers accepted that the scheme causes heritage harm when they recommended approval (Construction News).
A new piece of the puzzle arrives later this year: guidance co-authored by the Corporation and Historic England on how developers should weigh heritage assets in their proposals (The Art Newspaper). Whether it shifts the balance between towers and listed buildings remains the open question for everyone watching the City's skyline.
For now, the cranes keep climbing. The Museum of London's new galleries open first — proof that sometimes, heritage wins.
