Building designs are commonly rejected by planning commissions for being too tall, not being the right color for the neighborhood, impeding the views or natural light enjoyed by a neighboring structure ? the reasons are literally all over the map. Still, it’s not every day that you hear about a demolition order being issued to a building approved and built five years ago based solely on the visibility of fossils in its façade.
The Alleged Culprit
The housing block at 15 Clerkenwell Close in London was designed, approved, and built under the direction of renowned architect Amin Taha in 2013. The six-story project is comprised of eight apartment units, including Taha’s own home and the office for his architectural firm Groupwork + Amin Taha. But it’s the building’s exterior finish that lies at the center of this brouhaha.
When the scaffolding was removed from the property upon its completion, neighbors observed that the exterior did not match the images they?d seen on the planning commission?s website. The posted pictures showed a conventional brick exterior, but the actual exterior was made from sections of raw quarried limestone strewn with fossils.
Taha explained, and the council confirmed, that he submitted modifications to the proposed exterior after the brick plans were proposed. Although he received the council’s written approval for the new plans, they never managed to make their way online.

The Plot Thickens
In June 2017, Taha receive...