Update: Campaign Gathers Momentum Against Acme's Liverpool Street Development Plan

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The campaign to stop the radical redevelopment of Liverpool Street Station has intensified, with leading heritage and urban design organisations mounting significant opposition to Sellar and Network Rail’s proposed scheme, led by architects ACME and Herzog & de Meuron.

The Victorian Society—a statutory consultee on major listed building changes—has formally announced it will object to the proposals, describing them as “deeply damaging” to the historic station and its surrounding context. In a strongly worded statement, the Society criticised the insertion of a 16-storey tower atop the Grade II*-listed former Great Eastern Hotel, calling it “an aggressive act of architectural vandalism” that would irrevocably diminish the station’s architectural and civic presence.

"Liverpool Street is not a blank canvas for speculation. It is a piece of living history,” the Society warned on X (Twitter).

Meanwhile, Create Streets, an influential voice on urban design and planning, has added its weight to the opposition, declaring that the proposed design “shatters the human scale” and undermines efforts to restore livable, beautiful cities. Their earlier analysis warned that the plans were symptomatic of a deeper problem in UK planning policy—where short-term commercial gain is prioritised over long-term public value and stewardship of place.

“You can’t make a city more human by destroying its human-scale spaces,” they wrote in 2022, a sentiment that continues to resonate today.

Public Backlash and Architectural Critique

A recent Observer feature (July 2025) laid bare the deep cultural stakes of the battle, describing the project as “an emblem of everything wrong with how Britain treats its public heritage.” Critics argue that the sheer disproportion of the overbuild—a looming glass office block and hotel—is out of step with both the historical grain of the area and the station’s enduring importance as a public space.

The proposal’s defenders frame it as a “necessary upgrade” to meet capacity and economic goals. But architects, conservationists, and the public alike see through this rationale, arguing that sensitive modernisation is possible without erasing the existing structure’s scale, rhythm, and civic dignity.

“There is no preservation in this project—only token gestures wrapped around a commercial superstructure,” writes Architects’ Journal, which also confirms the Victorian Society’s formal objection to the scheme.

What Happens Next?

The scheme will face public consultation and potentially a planning inquiry, depending on the scale of opposition and whether the Secretary of State for Housing and Communities opts to call in the application.

As public attention turns once again to the future of Liverpool Street Station, the campaign to protect it stands as a national test case: Can heritage, public value, and thoughtful urban design prevail against speculative overdevelopment?

What You Can Do

• Write to your MP urging them to oppose the plans and call for the scheme to be reviewed by the Secretary of State.

• Support the Victorian Society and other heritage bodies making formal objections.

• Share this update to help spread awareness of the campaign.