Heritage Group Opposes Latest Liverpool Street Upgrade Plans

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09 July 2025 | Updated 03 September 2025

Heritage building protection group, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, has responded to Network Rail’s new plans to upgrade Liverpool Street Station, objecting to the proposed 97m tower block. 

The latest objections to the controversial project include concerns about a “lack of evidence” that alternative options to the 19-storey over-station development were considered, and the risk of “substantial harm” to multiple heritage assets.

 

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A new planning application to upgrade Liverpool Street station was submitted in April 2025, following the collapse of the 2023 deal with development partner Sellar and original architect Herzog & de Meuron. Architect ACME’s new designs were presented as a more sensitive redevelopment, as previous iterations of the project had been criticised for their negative impact on the Bishopsgate Conservation Area.

Plans for a commercial development above the concourse were scrapped in favour of a speculative office block set back from the Great Eastern Hotel, with a reduced height of 97m compared to 108m previously. 

However, SAVE Britain’s Heritage, as part of the Liverpool Street Station Campaign coalition, has submitted strong objections to the new designs and the disruption to heritage features. 

The group is concerned that the scale of the office block will still overshadow the Victorian hotel, “bulldozing the cathedral-like station concourse roof and blocking the natural light that currently fills the space.”

 

Picture: An artist’s impression showing the former Great Eastern hotel with a large glass-fronted office block behind it. Image Credit: ©Network Rail Property and ACME

 

Henrietta Billings, Director of SAVE, said: “The need for upgrades to the station’s accessibility, with additional lifts and escalators, is not in question. What we are questioning is the fundamental approach to fund these improvements, which under the current plans, come at the expense of a beloved London landmark. The case for this level of destruction of a listed landmark, for a speculative office block, has simply not been made.” 

 

Herzog & de Meuron Proposals to be Revised

 

In a further turn of events, the original 2023 plans by developer Sellar Property Group, Network Rail and Herzog & de Meuron remain live on the City of London’s planning portal. 

SAVE and other groups are allegedly being consulted on a revision to this scheme, led by Sellar, which involves much less demolition. 

This scheme has not yet been made public, but if it were to be submitted, it would mean that there would potentially be three live planning applications for the Liverpool Street station site.

Picture: a CGI showing an artist's impression of the revised Liverpool Street station roof. Image Credit: ©Network Rail Property and ACME

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 09 July 2025

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