A Historic England spokesman said:
"While the car park on Welbeck Street stands out nationally as an exemplar of 1960s car parks, it does not meet the very high bar for listing buildings of this date. Designed by Michael Blampied and Partners 1968-70, it does not compare well with more striking and slightly earlier commercial buildings in the Pop Art movement from which it derives.
"The car park is not innovatory in terms of its structure and also exhibits flaws in its design. The car parking floors are compromised by the less well designed ground-floor arcade. The Pop Art inspired façade is also a relatively late example of the artistic style applied to architecture and the split-level deck system for car parking was, by the late 1960s, a long-established model."
6 March 2017
It is this statement that caused the uproar on social media, and rightfully so, it is this that represents a deeper political issue with the current system. As this car park is in the heart of London (Westminster) a hotel, which is the building that is going to replace this particular one will generate more revenue.
Conclusively, it is boiling down to the £100m deal that it cost to purchase the car park, or more specifically the land on which it resides. Making it about money rather than true architectural excellence.
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