A planning application for a 52-storey tower in London's Canary Wharf designed by Morris + Company has been delayed just hours before it was due to be determined amid fire brigade concerns over safety.
The 172-metre residential skyscraper on Cuba Street would only have one staircase under its current design.
Tower Hamlets Council's strategic development committee had been due to make a decision on the planning application for the 421-apartment building on Thursday evening, with officers having recommended its approval.
A meeting to decide whether the project should go ahead was supposed to happen last night
But the meeting was cancelled by the council after developer Ballymore withdrew the application following a last-minute intervention by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) earlier in the day. "We do have concerns that the design submitted does not provide suitable and convenient means of escape and associated evacuation strategy for all building users," the fire service said in a statement on its website published yesterday.
"In buildings with a single escape route, we would expect the developer to have their own fire engineers provide a full review to show the resilience in the event of a fire and this does not appear to have been carried out."
The tower (immediately left of One Canada Square) is proposed for London's high-rise Canary Wharf business district
Ballymore said it will now "work closely with the LFB and local authority towards presenting t...