West London’s tallest skyscraper set to go up in Paddington

The biggest skyscraper in the whole of West London looks set to be built in Paddington.At 42 storeys and 490-ft tall, the giant cylindrical block of 271 flats will be 100-ft taller than West London’s current biggest building – the 390-ft Centre Point in Soho.The massive structure will be built alongside a second tower that will be 21 storeys tall with 155 flats.The developer, European Land, said a basement cinema and sky garden could be included in the scheme.Together the two huge blocks will create a total of 426 flats with 2,575 m sq of commercial space. A new landscaped public space would be created at the foot of the towers with “undulating lawns”.Blueprints show that the 490 ft-tall tower will be covered in “dark blue glazed terracotta cladding”, with a crown of tusks on its roof. The buildings will join the Merchant Square estate, including four other new towers around the Paddington basin, of which three have been completed.The plans were voted through unanimously by councillors on Westminster Council’s planning committee on Tuesday (April 23).But the councillors complained that only 67 of the two towers’ combined total of 426 flats will be classed as affordable housing. This falls below Westminster council’s targets of 30% and the Mayor of London’s policy for 35% to be affordable.Councillors said they felt forced “over a barrel” to approve the plans, because they will replace an already-approved scheme which they said was worse for including a hotel and fewer flats.