A further drop-in session on the Chinese ZhongRong Group’s proposed reconstruction of the Crystal Palace building was held on 1 February – again it was very well attended (there will be another on 1 March). It is now clear that the intention is not to build a replica but to produce a building ‘in the spirit of the original’. The short list of architects to take part in the design completion is due to be released later this month and the intention is to have made a planning application by the end of the year. The Society remains concerned over the potential traffic implications and the assumption by Bromley and the GLA that constraints on development on Metropolitan Open Land will be waived in this case.
