Standon House

Welcome to our Community Hub that displays an overview of the latest proposals for Standon House, 21 Mansell Street, London E1 8AA.

We appreciate you visiting our consultation website and sharing your views on the developing plans for Standon House.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and sharing further details throughout the process.

Proposals

Learn more about our exciting plans

The Team

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Timeline

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Proposals

Welcome

Welcome to our Community Hub that displays an overview of the latest proposals for Standon House, 21 Mansell Street, London E1 8AA.

We appreciate you visiting our consultation website and sharing your views on the developing plans for Standon House.

We are committed to continued consultation with the local community. We are keen to hear any questions you might have and to know what you think about the emerging proposals.

We look forward to receiving your feedback and sharing further details throughout the process.

The Site

Location

The property is located within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Located on the corner of Mansell Street and Braham Street, the building enjoys excellent connectivity. Aldgate and Aldgate East Underground stations are just a short walk away, while the new Crossrail station at Whitechapel is easily reached by a quick bus journey. With the A11 providing a direct route into Central London from the east, the location is ideally positioned for both commuters and visitors.

The intersection of Aldgate and Whitechapel is one of London’s most vibrant and dynamic locations. The area has a wide variety of bars, restaurants and coffee shops within the immediate vicinity, as well as the renowned Whitechapel Gallery, St Botolph Without Aldgate Church, and the bustling Brick Lane.

Approach down Braham Street

Bird’s-Eye View of the Site and Surrounding Context

Site Location

Existing Building

Standon House was constructed between 1982 and 1984 for the Sedgwick Group. It is a seven-storey office building made of concrete, with the roof space arranged over two levels. The upper level is a set-back mezzanine.

Although the building was refurbished in 2001, it now faces challenges in securing tenants in a competitive commercial market where energy performance and environmental standards, such as BREEAM, are highly valued.

A Pret occupies the ground floor, accessed via a short flight of five steps from Mansell Street.

Servicing for the building is located on Braham Street, where the public area has recently been paved over.

Braham Street Servicing

Existing Level Change

Area and Planning Context

Site Context and Planning Considerations

Standon House sits in Aldgate, at the heart of the Central Activities Zone (CAZ) and the Aldgate Tall Buildings Zone. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets adopted Planning Policy infers the site is ideal for high density, mixed use development, favouring the retention or replacement of office space. It could also accommodate resident, co-living, student housing or hotel uses.

The site lies within the Core Growth Area of the City Fringe Opportunity Area, a key focus for urban regeneration. Aldgate’s skyline blends mid-rise and tall buildings, from Brutalist icons like the Whitechapel Building to Victorian and modern glass developments. Recent trends favour brick and stone for tall buildings, adding warmth and texture to the area.

This dynamic layering of architectural styles reflects the area’s evolution from postwar reconstruction to contemporary regeneration. The location of Standon House is therefore well-suited for a new high-quality development that contributes positively to the surrounding townscape while carefully managing impacts on sensitive heritage assets and protected views, such as those of the Tower of London.

Site Context and Planning Considerations

30 Mansell Street

Aldgate House

Hayloft Point

White Chapel Building

Pacific Television Centre

The Gate Hotel

Our Proposals

The emerging proposals include:

A new mixed-use development including a hotel and the re-provision of existing commercial and café spaces.
Hotel and commercial receptions located at ground floor level.
A spacious hotel restaurant on the 17th floor, open to both guests and the public.
The provision of high-quality, sustainable office space with external amenity on the 6th floor.
New landscaping and public seating at ground level, enhancing the public realm with additional trees and increased greening on the Site.
Improved servicing strategy.
Designed with sustainability in mind energy-efficient building with opportunities for carbon reduction.

Mansell Street Elevation

Design

Principles

Bringing new life and uses to the site

Use the site’s footprint to its full potential and carve out part of the massing to enable quality daylighting throughout.

Heritage asset impact

The protected views of the Tower of London have helped inform the building’s height and massing.
Strategic set backs and cranks in the face are used to ensure the building sits comfortably in its context and protected heritage views.

Articulate the Massing

The building is articulated as three elements; a base and two towers. The base echoes the lower building line and is separated from the towers above by a glazed band.

Public Realm & Active Frontage

Improve the public realm and activate the frontage along Braham Street and Mansell Street. In addition, there will be a publicly accessible hotel restaurant on the 17th floor, with spectacular views of the city.

Massing & Materiality

The proposal’s massing is divided into a solid brick base with punched openings that responds to the form and materiality of its neighbours, with a lightweight and neutral ‘top’ that will sit back behind the protected views of the Tower of London.

Light Towers

Chamfered precast concrete panels

Grey glass spandrels to create double storey effect

Brick Plinth

Solid red hues in surrounding context

Brick base material palette

Street Line and Public Realm

Proposed Street Line

The existing building line along Mansell Street features a saw-tooth pattern and meets the neighbouring building at an awkward angle, resulting in a disjointed relationship.
The proposal seeks to align with the adjacent building at street level, ultimately creating a more coherent and harmonious connection between the two.
Further, the proposal will create level access across the site, ensuring accessibility for all users.
The existing building does not have level access, therefore level access will be provided across the site, ensuring accessibility for all users.

Photo of the existing level change for Mansell Street

Two storey set back delineates the commercial entrance and creates a colonnade which connects to the set back entrance to the neighbouring restaurant.

Existing Public Realm

The public square on Braham Street is a pedestrianised plaza providing open space within the dense urban fabric of Aldgate. Defined by its paving, seating areas, and tree planting, the square offers a welcome pause between surrounding offices, transport connections, and residential streets.

With the introduction of the Transport Workers’ Memorial, the square has taken on added civic significance, becoming a place of remembrance.

The square does, however, face some challenges, including limited active frontage along its northern and southern boundaries and daytime vehicuar traffic associated with the servicing of Standon House.

Aldgate Connect Business Improvement District (BID) engaged Gensler to develop a public realm vision and strategy for the wider Aldgate BID area. This included concepts for pedestrian improvements, streetscape enhancements, and public realm upgrades, developed in close consultation with stakeholders. Our scheme aims to support and facilitate the implementation of this vision.

Braham Street Park

We have taken the opportunity to look afresh and reimagine Braham Street Park, to explore what changes could be made to improve the biodiversity and create a place that is more inviting and where visitors would wish to linger. New tree and perennial planting is proposed to replace some lawn areas, creating a more visually interesting landscape while providing a respectful separation around the memorial. The park’s biodiversity will be enhanced, and its amenity value improved with the introduction of a large-scale play area and an art feature at the western end.

Braham Street Opportunities

Introducing fun, vitality and entertainment into Braham Street Park

Paving approach to service bay

Feature seating opposite hotel

Typical in ground sign at entrance

Varied perennial planting

Grid of trees to increase canopy cover

Introduce service bay adjacent to highway and limit area in front of building to fire tender access only and create a pedestrian friendly environment.
Mark threshold to building frontage for guest arrival and place informal table and chairs.
Repave existing road in good quality paving for pedestrians with occasional fire tender access.
Introduce coloured amenity features to enliven the space and create informal activity and sense of arrival at the western end.
Plant existing lawns to increase biodiversity and provide discreet protection to memorial.
Reduce open area of paving with new grid of trees around memorial.
Maintain flexible open paved area with potential for some fixed seating to define the edge.
Retain recent planting and new trees.
Introduce a grid of trees to increase canopy cover and reduce wind, integrate seating within the grid.
Transport Workers Covid Memorial retained and protected with additional perennial planting and trees.

Existing Braham Street Sketch

Proposed Upgrades to Braham Street

Transport & Servicing

The proposal addresses the impact of servicing and emergency access in an area of high pedestrian activity. Current arrangements do not fully support pedestrian movement or create positive street conditions.
A new lay-by on Mansell Street will accommodate all servicing activity. Emergency access is retained, with the width optimised since there is no need for vehicles to pass each other. This frees space for public benefits, such as landscaping and spill-out areas.
The lay-by is designed to blend with the footway. Loading will be restricted to overnight hours (11 pm–7 am), making the space fully usable by pedestrians during the day.
Even during overnight servicing, pedestrians can pass safely along a continuous north–south route, improving on current conditions where crossings are required.
The removal of this conflict, along with flexible servicing options, represents a significant benefit for both pedestrians and building operations.

Proposed Servicing Route in Blue

Sustainability

Sustainability Benefits (summary)

The new building will be highly energy-efficient, reducing operational carbon compared with the 1980s structure.
Designed to meet modern environmental standards, targeting high BREEAM performance with sustainable materials.
Circular economy approach: demolition and construction will prioritise reuse and recycling of materials such as concrete and stone.
Whole-life carbon assessment will guide long-term sustainability.
Retaining the existing building was considered, but due to access and structural limits, a new-build maximises carbon reduction.
All materials on site will be examined to establish the ability to re-use. Concrete frame will be reused as aggregate, and the stonework reclaimed to use in the new scheme, or on another site.
Materials will be reused where possible: concrete as aggregate, stonework reclaimed for the new scheme or other sites.