Terry Farrell’s draft masterplan is mauled by Westminster City Council, which describes buildings as large and bulky.

Terry Farrell and Partners’ revised masterplan for Paddington Health Campus has been slammed by Westminster City Council.

In a letter to Terry Farrell and Partners leaked to Building the Council said that “fundamental concerns” about the height, bulk and form of the proposed buildings remained.

The letter is another blow for the Paddington Health Campus, which has seen costs spiral from £382m to £800m. The project includes the redevelopment of St Mary’s Hospital, and incorporation of the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals and Imperial College.

The Council said: “The submitted model appears to have a number of significant inaccuracies in the height of proposed and existing buildings to the extent that it provides a very misleading picture of the proposals. It also depicts buildings that have not been approved as well as schemes that have not been submitted for consideration.”

The letter was critical of the increase in height of many of the proposed buildings. It said that the 85m residential tower, the 45m block behind the Clarence Wing, the new 32-52m Winsland street block, a 122m tower and all the hospital buildings were higher than those previously proposed.

The Council said that the extremely large and bulky buildings would be out of character with the area and have a “far reaching and detrimental visual impact”.

Terry Farrell’s plan to range buildings either side of the canal also gave the Council “significant concern”. It said it was worried about the level of impact on the whole basin. Farrell was asked to include additional buildings on the North side of the canal after Chelsfield agreed to give PHC land there in exchange for the lucrative site at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea.

The City Council also noted that future development of the project must include an analysis of the impact on the adjacent North West Community School and the Post Office, which the Council is planning to dispose of in the next three years.

The Council concluded that: “The masterplan requires some significant issues to be further reviewed and developed.”