East London Council Expected to Greenlight Tower Plans

Councillors in east London are being advised to approve demolition of their current headquarters to make way for two SimpsonHaugh-designed residential towers, Building Design reports. Tower Hamlets Council’s strategic development committee is set to back the demolition, and the move will make way for two new towers on the former East India Dock site: a 36-storey block featuring 716 student rooms and a 30-storey tower providing 150 build-to-rent flats. Developer EID, which is a subsidiary of LaSalle Investment Management, is also seeking outline planning permission for two further buildings – a 35,000-m² data center and a smaller building featuring 5,940 m² of flexible commercial floorspace and up to 660 m² of new space for community use. Recommending the plans for approval, Tower Hamlets planning officers said SimpsonHaugh’s tower proposals were of “high quality and interesting design” and would complement the surrounding built context.