A look at the grand, 21st century plans for London that never bore fruit.
London goes through fits and starts with its grand projects. The twin boosts of the Millennium and the Olympics saw any number of monumental landmarks, from cable cars to wobbly bridges to giant tents. But for every Shard or London Eye, there's another planned structure that never got built.
In this article, we're starting a list of the big London projects that might have been, all proposed in the 21st century and drawn from our archives.
The Helter-Skelter
Proposed 2005
This curly-whirly tower, officially called 'The Pinnacle' would have been the tallest in the City of London, and with the highest viewing gallery. It would also have added an unusual purple spiral to the skyline which would, by now, have featured in at least one spy-chase movie action sequence. Planning permission was granted, and the tower's core was built up to the seventh floor, when the project stalled. Now dubbed 'The Stump', or 'London's smallest skyscraper', the embarrassing mass of concrete was eventually demolished when it became clear the project was going nowhere. In its place, we now have the less eye-catching 22 Bishopsgate, with its Horizon 22 viewing gallery.
"Boris Island"
Proposed at various times through the decades, but championed by Boris Johnson in 2008.
Plans to expand Heathrow have been rumbling on for decades; any major infrastructure project like that is going to find a metric f*ck-tonne of challenges and objections. Boris Johnson's non-winning solution was to close Heathrow and build a totally new hub airport out in the Thames Estuary. Despite being associated with the ridiculous future PM, the plans did contain a few big ticks in the 'pros' column. Building island runways in the Thames would cut noise pollution, as far fewer people live in the vicinity. Such a hub could also be hooked up to the nearby shipping ports for integrated freight logistics. The downsides, including habitat destruction, the shifting of major support industries, intrusion into Schiphol airspace (planes in a holding pattern here in conflict with those in a holding pattern at Amsterdam) and, of course, the monumental cost ultimately saw off the proposals. Heathrow expansion now seems to be gaining momentum once again.
Floating Concorde Museum
Proposed 2010
If New York can display a Concorde on the Hudson (Intrepid Museum), then surely London should have one, too... given the supersonic aircraft were partly designed and developed in the UK. That was the thinking in 2010, when a £22 million plan emerged to plonk one of the veteran jets on a Thames pontoon outside County Hall. The lower deck would contain an exhibition on the history of Concorde. Sadly, it was not to be, and we got the Shrek experience instead. The Concorde in question remains in London at Heathrow Airport, but lacks any public access. The nearest one you can visit (and board) is at Imperial War Museum Duxford, in Cambridgeshire.
Jesus on Primrose Hill
Proposed 2012
In the run-up to the 2012 Olympics, all manner of peculiar projects were suggested for the capital. One of the more outlandish would have seen a nine-metre replica of Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue erected on top of Primrose Hill. The messianic adornment would have symbolised the passing of the Olympic torch from London 2012 to Rio 2016, and would have been funded by the Brazilian government. Christ never rose, but London did get a Rio-style cable car over to the east.
The Tower of Atheism
Proposed 2012
The idea of a tower devoted to atheism was suggested by the philosopher Alain de Botton, who asked: "Why should religious people have the most beautiful buildings in the land? It's time atheists had their own versions of the great churches and cathedrals." His proposal — which happened to coincide with a new book launch — was to erect a 46-metre-tall monolith, somewhere in the Square Mile. To provoke awe and contemplation, the tower would feature a millimetre-wide gold band, to represent the brevity of humanity's tenure on the planet. That bit's not a bad idea, actually... though perhaps instead of building a tower for the purpose, we should retrofit existing buildings with a correctly-scaled gold line.
The Hammersmith Flyunder and subterranean ring-road
Proposed 2012
The Hammersmith Flyover has long been a visual blight on the area. Now almost two-thirds of a century old, the concrete structure has needed several bouts of major repair work in recent years to keep it functional. Following one of the more severe episodes in 2011, Boris Johnson suggested that the whole thing be demolished, with traffic instead diverted underground into tunnels. There's a lot to be said for this idea, if only some kind of magical money tree could rain cash on the west London neighbourhood. Undeterred by the ambition needed to fulfil such a plan, the then-Mayor would go on to propose a 22-mile subterranean orbital road that would require the magic of 100 fairy godmothers, and a dozen genies-of-the-lamp to proceed.
The Garden Bridge
Proposed 2013
The one everyone remembers. The Garden Bridge would have spanned the Thames between Temple and the South Bank — a pedestrian-only crossing filled with flowers, trees and shrubs. It sounded quite nice, actually, especially when they told us it wouldn't cost the public a penny. Joanna Lumley was one of the key backers, and everyone likes Joanna Lumley. But the project soon began to unravel when the money could not be raised privately. The bridge, close to Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges was not exactly needed, and the idea of pumping public cash into the bauble did not sit well with many. Then it became personally associated with Boris Johnson, which put a lot of people off. Then it was revealed that the bridge would have to close regularly for private events. Then the commentariat decided that it no longer liked the bridge's designer Thomas Heatherwick. Then... Then... Then... It was death by a thousands cuts, and the project was finally cancelled in 2017. It later emerged that £43 million of public money had been spaffed on the bridge, without spade ever hitting dirt.
Westfield Croydon
Proposed 2013.
You might not like them, but the Westfields in Shepherd's Bush and Stratford seem to be reasonably successful. With two massive shopping centres in the east and west, the next logical step was to plug the gaps to the polar compass points. I'm not sure where a northern Westfield might have gone. Hampstead might have been fun, just for the popcorn-worthy battle that would have ensued, though a revamped Brent Cross would be more likely. The south London iteration was always going to be in Croydon. Westfield announced it back in 2013, and went on (with partners) to acquire the Whitgift Centre and Centrale site. Fast forward to 2025 and the current plan is the redevelopment of Croydon town centre into "a vibrant, mixed use centre" with "homes, shops, cultural venues and public spaces." However, many badly-stung Croydonians — not least local journalist Inside Croydon — remain highly skeptical.
This is just a taster of the many schemes proposed in the 21st century but never built. Feel free to suggest others in the comments.
