Cool new skyscraper

Published: 26 November, 2010
by JOSH LOEB

PLANS for the tallest tower in Westminster – a 140-metre-tall structure in Paddington that has already been nicknamed “The Cucumber” – were sent to Westminster City Council this week by billionaire property developers the Reuben Brothers and their millionaire business partner, Bruce Jarvis

The application for planning permission to build the skyscraper – which is officially known as 1 Merchant Square and would contain hundreds of flats, a bar and a 90-room boutique hotel – is expected to be discussed by the council’s planning sub-committee before April. 

A spokesman for the project said the tower would be “the crowning monument of Merchant Square” and would “reflect the already iconic nature of Paddington Basin as being at the heart of London yet within easy access of Heathrow and Paddington station, as well as the West End”.

Anne von Bennigsen, chairwoman of the Paddington Waterways and Maida Vale Society, said: “I only heard about the tower this week and the council will be asking us about it in due course. It does seem too high but it depends where it will be built, which is not clear from the picture.”

The Reuben Brothers, who are of Iraqi origin, have an estimated fortune of £5billion.