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City of London issues planning wind guidelines to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe near skyscrapers

Gusts caused by tall buildings can push riders into the path of motor vehicles in extreme cases

The City of London Corporation, which governs the financial district in the heart of the capital, has issued the UK’s first planning wind microclimate guidelines in a bid to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe amid the ongoing development of skyscrapers in the Square Mile.

The introduction of the guidelines, which are fully set out in a document at this link, follow concerns that the wind effect created by tall buildings can sometimes destabilise cyclists and even push them into the path of motor vehicles.

Wind tunnel studies and computer simulations, along with testing of roads and footways, will be used to determine the effect of buildings, with the overarching aim of protecting vulnerable road users in line with the City Corporations aim of getting more people cycling and walking.

Drawn up in partnership with Ender Ozkan from specialist engineering consultancy RWDI, the City Corporation says that the guidelines will, among other things:

Require that wind impacts are tested at the earliest point of a scheme’s design development (e.g. height and massing) to avoid the need to retrofit wind mitigation measures

Ensure more micro-level assessments of wind directions is carried out in wind tunnel testing

Apply a new rigorous code of practice in the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques

Require the commissioning of two separate consultants, one to carry out wind tunnel testing and the other CFD, and interrogate any discrepancies between both sets of results

Assess the variation of mean and gust wind speed and height.

Alastair Moss, chair of the planning and transportation committee, said: “With the number of tall buildings in the Square Mile growing, it is important that the knock-on effects of new developments on wind at street-level are properly considered.

“These guidelines mark another significant step that the City Corporation is taking to put cyclists and pedestrians at the heart of planning in the Square Mile, prioritising their safety and experience.

“From the Transport Strategy to the City Plan, we are ensuring that our streets are a comfortable and pleasant place to live, work and visit.,” he added.

“We hope these groundbreaking guidelines can create a blueprint for others by delivering safer, more enjoyable streets that meet the evolving needs of this great city.”

The introduction of the guidelines has been welcomed by cycling campaigners.

London Cycling Campaign’s infrastructure campaigner, Simon Munk, told the Guardian that there is a “well-documented risk of concrete canyons … creating wind conditions where pedestrians can be knocked off their feet or cyclists can be pushed sideways into the path of motor vehicles.”

Roger Geffen, policy director for the charity Cycling UK, commented: “Anywhere where a tall building goes up, you find that somewhere you could be previously cycling happily, there is a wall of wind.

“You can suddenly be really struggling. In the rush to put up tall buildings, no one has been thinking about what it means for aspirations to make cycling and walking simpler and safer. It’s great that someone has started now.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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matthewn5 | 4 years ago
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There's an isolated tall building I pass on my commute, right by a hump-backed canal bridge. Nightmare to cycle past on a windy day as it always seems to generate a strong headwind, wherever the wind is coming from.

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crazy-legs | 4 years ago
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Canary Wharf - the rectangular road around the middle of it (North & South Colonade) is well known for being a right wind tunnel. They held a few rounds of the Tour Series there over the years. One side the riders would be going down at 40mph, the other side they'd be doing 15 back into the howling headwind that was circulating around the buildings.

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dobbo996 | 4 years ago
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There's a tall office block in central Cardiff, Capital Tower - 22 stories, that's a nightmare for people walking, cycling and motorcycling. I used to work there, back in the early 1980s, and hated having to go near it on a windy day as the side street leading to the car park, where I left my motorcycle, acted as a funnel. Bloody scary. The other scary place was riding over the first Severn Bridge. Leaving the 'quiet zone' just after the towers was, erm, bottom-clenching.

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Roger Geffen | 4 years ago
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The owners of the building in Leeds eventually had to install wind baffles to address the problem:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-41608461

To be honest, given this fatality 8 years ago, I'm amazed it's taken so long for anyone to come up with a policy response, as the issue affects a lot more than 'just' the safety and comfort of people cycling.

Respect then to the City of London for adopting this policy - and I hope other cities follow suit.

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burtthebike | 4 years ago
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I would have thought the biggest problem was when they opened the doors of parliament and all the hot air rushes out.

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rookybiker | 4 years ago
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Having been involved in designing similar, albeit simpler, wind rules for an urban area in continental Europe, I am happy to finally see a large metropolis tackle the problems created by very tall buildings. It will eventually push other metropolises to do the same. The only negative is that it will add to the ever increasing design and approval costs for buildings.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
6 likes

There is no need to be cynical here Brooksby as no one has said that at all. However funneling of winds on all Skyscrapers is a part of Architecture now as if designed badly, a whole building can collapse. However things like the Walkie Talkie "death beam" show that builders only consider the building and not all the areas around it so anything that leads to guidelines and fixes for potentially dangerous areas for cyclists and pedestrians should be applauded.

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Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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I seem to remember a building in Leeds creating a wind funnel which blew a lorry over?

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brooksby replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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Rick_Rude wrote:

I seem to remember a building in Leeds creating a wind funnel which blew a lorry over?

It's so obvious, now, isn't it?  None of those terrible road incidents where skip lorries and HGVs ran over cyclists were actually down to dangerous vehicles or incompetent/sociopathic drivers...  Every single one of them within the City was down to them being blown off course by the winds summoned and focused by p3nis-substitute architecture.

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srchar replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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Rick_Rude wrote:

I seem to remember a building in Leeds creating a wind funnel which blew a lorry over?

The infamous "Dalek" building - both ugly and dangerous (said lorry actually fell on top of a man, who sadly died).

The streets around it are closed during windy weather. Which in Leeds, is quite a lot of the time.

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