Planning permission for a £6.6million tower in London looks set to be turned down after the design was labelled a “horrific alien phallus”.
The 16-storey Beacon was described by architect Will Alsop as a “gateway to the emerging Vauxhall gallery district in south London”, according to the Evening Standard.
The Architects’ Journal reported that plans for the tower are due to be considered by the London Borough of Lambeth’s planning applications committee on 11 October - but its future is looking somewhat uncertain.
Planners have now recommended that permission for the building be denied.
A report from Lambeth planning officers said: “The scale and mass of the proposal would detrimentally harm the locally protected view from within Kennington Conservation Area thereby causing harm to the integrity of the Conservation Area and views outwards, specifically from Courtenay Street, where it would dominate the landmark silhouette which contains Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) within Westminster Palace.”
According to the Standard, one resident said: “It looks alien. Like some horrific alien phallus from the nightmare visions of [Swiss artist] H R Giger.”
More than 100 letters were sent to the authorities complaining about the plans.
The tower was planned to stand near Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery.