Battle over £1.5bn hotel and office plan for Liverpool Street station

Plans for a £1.5bn hotel and office block development that would fund a “cost free” upgrade of Liverpool Street station were unveiled on Thursday.

Sellar, the developer of the Shard, wants to build a 16-storey tower block on top of the historic mainline station.

But it faces a battle with conservationists who are alarmed at the potential impact on the Grade II listed station, its “spectacular” glass roof and the former Great Eastern railway hotel, now the Andaz hotel.

Sellar is working with Network Rail, the Hyatt hotel group – which owns the Andaz - and the Elizabeth Line operator MTR on the plans.

They say the over-station development would fund £450m of capacity improvements to the station at no cost to fare payers or taxpayers, including a two-storey concourse plus step-free access to all Tube platforms.

The station, which dates to 1874, was reopened by the Queen in 1991 after a six-year modernisation that was regarded as one of the best examples of Victorian restoration.

Liverpool Street was the third busiest station in London pre-pandemic, with 67 million passenger journeys a year, according to official data.

But the developers claim the true footfall could be as high as 135m a year and claim there is a pressing need to ease “significant overcrowding” at the station, now a key interchange on the Elizabeth line.

Liverpool Street, currently used as a taxi rank, would be pedestrianised. It is thought that 50 Liverpool Street, the modern gothic-style building that currently houses a McDonald’s restaurant beside the station’s main entrance, would be demolished.

Latest figures show weekday rail travel has recovered to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, while Transport for London services are at 81 per cent of normal.

James Sellar, chief executive at Sellar, said: “While working patterns have shifted post-Covid, passenger numbers are rebounding quickly and it is vital we continue to invest in London’s transport infrastructure to ensure it is fit for the future.

“Our vision to significantly upgrade Liverpool Street station will alleviate its chronic overcapacity issues and future-proof it for generations at zero cost to the tax or fare payer.”

The developers say the hotel’s listed façade would be “sensitively restored”, with a new link to the concourse. The Andaz would take the top six floors of the tower block, with 10 floors of office space below.

There would be a publicly-accessible roof garden and swimming pool.

Historic England, the conservation watchdog, is giving “pre-application advice” to the developer and checking whether the station’s listed status needed to be updated.

The Victorian Society has asked Historic England to upgrade the station to Grade II* status, which could offer greater protection.

It immediately lauched an appeal for funds to potentially challenge the application at any public inquiry.

“Much of the station is really, really good,” a Victorian Society spokesman said. “It was listed in the 1970s after intense pressure from us. We think it is undervalued. It was a pioneering piece of conservation, years before St Pancras [was brought back to life]. It was done very sensitively.”

He said the proposal was for the tower block to “over-sail” the former Great Eastern hotel “will look grotesque”.

The 20th Century Society said it was “concerned” about the plans. “A lot of the concourse looks like it was part of the original Victorian station but it’s a more recent addition,” a spokesman said.

“For it to be potentially destroyed and replaced with something unsympathetic would be alarming.”

A planning application is due to be submitted next year, with work beginning in 2024 and taking four years to complete. Trains would continue running during construction.

The proposals, including the station improvements, will be able to be viewed at a public exhibition at the Andaz hotel from November 21 to 23.

Robin Dobson, group property director at Network Rail, said: “The plans would transform Liverpool Street station into an exciting mixed-use destination in its own right, whilst sensitively restoring and showcasing the station’s heritage architecture.”