Architect leaves consultancy role on £32m Westminster scheme.

Lord Foster has withdrawn from one of the most high-profile architectural commissions in the UK.

Foster and Partners had been working in a consultancy role on the £32m Supreme Court project – which would see the interior of the grade II-listed Middlesex Guildhall on Parliament Square, Westminster, radically renovated.

Reasons for Foster’s departure from the project remain unclear.

One insider said that the architectural superstar had decided to leave the project because "it wasn’t going to be a Norman Foster building".

The renovation will see new offices and legal library, the restoration of two light wells and the adoption of existing courtrooms.

However, the plans have sparked controversy, especially with English Heritage, because of the aesthetic changes planned.

It is not known if a replacement for Foster will be found or whether the rest of the work will be shouldered by lead architect Feilden + Mawson.