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An image of how a new gateway could look |
Chinatown gate design rejected
A TEN-YEAR campaign calling for a gateway to Chinatown has been set back after planning chiefs told Beijing’s elite designers to go back to the drawing board.
The London Chinatown Community Association has been fighting to build an authentic entrance at the junction of Wardour Street and Lisle Street.
A £250,000 gate has been designed by royal architects Beijing City Garden Ancient Construction Company.
But on seeing the final designs, which suggested using steel instead of wood, planning officials reported it was “not sufficiently authentic enough”.
One said: “The design of the gate is based on traditional Chinese design, however, its frame is concrete and streel rather than timber. This undermines the claims for its authenticity and quality.”
The council initially approved the plans, but has since gone cold on the project after Irish property developers Mcalear and Rushe filed a late objection.
Mcalear and Rushe, who won permmission earlier this year to develop the neighbouring Swiss Centre site into a £200 million 194-bedroom hotel, argue the two-storey-high gateway would overshadow diners in their luxury restaurant and have told the LCCA to build the gate at the north end of Wardour Street.
The hotel plan was rubber-stamped in September and a jubilant Councillor Ian Wilder said: “The benefit to the economy is immeasurable. You think we would abandon a major project like this to build a gate?”
Last year, the LCCAcommissioned royal feng shui experts from Beijing to find a suitable location.
Harnessing “chi” and using ancient methods of orientation, they recommneded the south Wardour Street site. |
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