The Museum of London and Bastion House are set to be demolished to make way for the London Wall West scheme, after UK levelling up secretary Michael Gove decided not to intervene.
Gove informed the City of London last Friday that he would not call in Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson's proposal, reported British publication Architects' Journal (AJ).
He had originally issued an Article 31 holding directive in April when the City of London approved the London Wall West scheme, which will replace the old Museum of London as well as the nearby Bastion House office block.
The two 1970s buildings were originally designed by architecture studio Powell & Moya.
Planning authority will progress with issuing planning permission
"We have been informed that the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has lifted the Section 31 Holding Directive on the London Wall West planning application and decided not to call in the application," a City of London Corporation spokesperson told AJ.
"[As] Local Planning Authority, we will now progress with issuing planning permission to allow works to commence on site."
With the holding directive lifted and no plans to intervene in the project, the construction of London Wall West and demolition of the former Museum of London and Bastion House can go ahead.
The decision comes despite nearly 90 per cent of local residents reportedly having voted for an alternative to the demolition in 2022.
Located on the edge of the Grace II-listed Barbican estate in London, the plans for London Wall West will involve building three office towers.
The London Wall West project will be designed by architecture studios Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson.
Originally built in 1977, the Museum of London closed to the public in December 2022 as it prepared to relocate to a new building in Smithfield market designed by Stanton Williams and Asif Khan. It plans to reopen in this location in 2026.
Exemption from listing made for Museum of London
Conservation group Twentieth Century Society, which fought against the demolition, described the building as "the first post-war museum to be built in London and the largest urban history museum in the world".
Designed by Powell & Moya at the height of its career, the museum has an angular concrete structure covered in white tiles and the nearby Bastion House features bronzed curtain wall facades raised atop concrete pillars.
The two buildings are located along the London Wall street on the south side of the Barbican estate.
The Barbican Centre is Grade II-listed, however, the local council secured an exemption in 2019 for the museum and Bastion House.
Before developing the London Wall West scheme, Diller Scofidio + Renfro revealed a design for a concert hall on the Barbican estate, which was scrapped.
Elsewhere on the estate, a proposal by architecture studio Allford Hall Monaghan Morris to convert a 1950s office building into a co-living space was recently revealed.
Top photo by Museum of London via Wikimedia Commons.