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£130m Rogers extension to British Museum is blocked
Mira Bar-Hillel and Louise Jury24.07.09
Artist's impression of the British Museum's proposed north western extension designed by Lord Rogers
Proposals for a £130million modernist extension to the British Museum have been thrown out.
Museum bosses wanted a five-storey building with three basement levels for a special exhibition gallery, conservation laboratories, offices and collection storage rooms.
Planning permission was expected to be a formality for the North West Development project, which would have been the biggest addition to the museum for a century.
But the scheme, designed by Lord Rogers, was rejected by a majority of five votes to four at Camden council's planning committee last night.
The rejection came despite the plans enjoying the support of English Heritage and being recommended for approval by Camden's own planning officers.
After a three-hour discussion and representations by experts on both sides, the committee decided the scheme was an "overdevelopment" and that its benefit in terms of additional exhibition space would be outweighed by damage to parts of the original museum.
The rejection is a second major setback for Lord Rogers in as many months. Eight weeks ago his £3billion scheme for the Chelsea Barracks was withdrawn by the Qatari owners following an intervention from Prince Charles.
The council's decision has delighted television presenter and conservation champion Griff Rhys Jones, who is president of the Camden Civic Society. Rhys Jones, who is currently filming in Rome for his ITV series World's Greatest Cities, said: "It is a huge relief. The proposed scheme would have harmed the great city that is London.
"We do not want to stand in the way of the Museum expanding its exhibition spaces, but this design was too dominant. It would have overwhelmed the fantastic building and dwarfed it."
Another prominent objector pleased by the decision is Prince Charles's favourite architectural historian, Cambridge professor and writer David Watkin. Professor Watkin wrote to Camden council only two days ago "to protest in the strongest possible terms". He said the proposals "would wreak great damage to the British Museum, a world-famous, listed, classical icon".
The committee agreed with his view that the extension would damage the Arched Room, the King Edward VII North Galleries and staircase, the north elevation of Robert Smirke's Great Court, and obscure views down Malet Street. Openings would have been cut into the original stone walls of the Grade I-listed Great Court for access to the new wing.
A spokeswoman said the museum was "very disappointed" but bosses are unlikely to give up on expansion plans. British Museum chairman Niall FitzGerald said last week it would be a "catastrophe" if the museum failed to create a new exhibitions space.
It may now appeal the rejection, which would result in a public inquiry, and a final decision made by the Secretary of State for Communities, John Denham. The museum may choose to go back to the drawing board, to create a smaller proposal without the impact on the existing building.
But the project may also fall victim to spending cuts by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which had pledged £22.5million towards the £130million project.
The museum had already received two-thirds of the funding but had about £8 million still due.
Reader views (7)
Excellent ! Rogers should be prosecuted for what he has done to London.
- Paul, Rochester UK
Let's hope that common sense will prevail and Southwark Council come to the same decision over the planned, hideous, extension to the Tate Modern.
- Tom Watson, London
Whatever its merits, this and similar proposals like that at Tate Modern are the kind of thing that pop up towards the end of a boom period (Estuary airports and Crossrail lines are others).
This delay will make people sit back and ask whether the money is really there to carry it through. Since the last few times I visited the BM it was crammed and hideiously noisy, the overdevelopment argument has some merit.
- Mdj E10, london uk
It doesn't look like London. Why hasn't it got any nice ornate bits or those hanging baskets like most houses in England have?
- Leo, Florida, USA
Good. Its was bound to be out of all proportion to the original building. Rogers' buildings can often be seen as monuments to Rogers' monstrous ego plonked down in inapproriate places with no regard for their surroundings.
- Wanda Mellish, Beckensfield, UK
It is an excellent scheme. Candem's councillors will have egg all over their face at the inevtiable inquiry
- Jake, Camden
Excellent. Let's see a lot more instances of vulgar, junk architectural schemes being kicked out.
- Ken, Bexleyheath
