The former Royal Mail sorting office - site of the proposed new Paddington tower
The Victorian Society is objecting to plans to demolish the former Royal Mail sorting office to build the 72-story tower dubbed the Paddington Pole.
The organisation is opposed to the demolition of the “handsome” existing building, and says the skyscraper would be completely out of keeping with the rest of the area, which it says is “low-rise”, causing harm to nearby listed buildings and conservation areas.
It wants people to object to the proposals before consultation ends at the end of January.
Its society conservation adviser, James Hughes, said: “Demolishing this high quality building would harm the setting of the Grade I listed Paddington Station , other listed buildings and the Bayswater Conservation Area itself.
The former Royal Mail sorting office - site of the proposed new Paddington tower, seen from Paddington Station
“Although unlisted, this building is important in understanding Paddington Station’s relationship with the city. Any development of the site should focus on the later buildings of no architectural vale.
"The Paddington Pole’s 72 storeys would affect views across west London and pave the way for similar towers in the future.
“Westminster Council must reject this application and instead explore other options to achieve the same benefits for passengers.’
The baroque style former Royal Mail sorting and delivery office was built in 1892 by Sir Henry Tanner, and extended in 1907 by Jasper Wager.
According to the Victorian Society, other organisations such as Historic England and SAVE Britain’s Heritage have also objected to the application which can be commented on until the end of January.
A petition against the scheme started by the Skyline Campaign now has more than 1,500 signatures.
The planning application was put in by Sellar Property Group at the end of last year.
The developer and architect are the same team which built the Shard. Sellar claims the tower will revitalise the area and lead to improvements to the station .