Lloyd’s chair slams plans for Shard-height skyscraper next to Leadenhall Market

The chairman of insurance giant Lloyd’s of London has made a last-ditch bid to prevent the now-vacant Aviva building near Leadenhall Market being redeveloped into a new 73-story skyscraper.

The insurance market’s Bruce Carnegie-Brown has written to City of London officials warning that the skyscraper – known as 1 Undershaft – would “rob the City of a really important convening space,” according to reports in the FT.

1 Undershaft would top out at 304m, just six metres shy of the size of The Shard, and is designed by Eric Parry architects.

The new tower would take over much of the footprint of St Helen’s Square, the plaza which sits in between the modernist former home of Aviva, the Lloyd’s Building, and Aon, Brit and MS Amlin’s home in the Cheesegrater – otherwise known as 122 Leadenhall.

City of London officials have previously approved a design for the area but developers have re-submitted plans with a new design, more height, and an 11th-floor public garden.

Others objections to the redesign have come from architecture fans who argue the St Helen’s skyscraper – a sleek, black, modernist design reminiscent of Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building in New York – should be allowed to stand.

Aviva moved out last year to a new space on Fenchurch Street.

A vote on the new design will occur later today.