As the built environment sector grapples with how to balance retrofit, carbon reduction and the need for future-fit space, the question of when demolition can be justified is increasingly contested. The High Court’s London Wall West decision is a reminder that demolition must be tested on the evidence, not treated as automatically unsustainable. 

The case, Barbican Quarter Organisation Ltd vs City of London Corporation, concerned the latter’s approval of planning permission and listed building consent for the demolition and mixed-use redevelopment of 140 and 150 London Wall, with the City acting both as applicant and as local planning authority.

The judicial review was brought on three grounds, all of which were dismissed by the judge, Hon Mr Justice Fordham. While the judgment addresses several planning law issues, its wider significance lies in what it says about the growing debate over retrofit, redevelopment and sustainability.

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