Make Architects has been given the green light for a pair of major central London projects including an eight-storey office building opposite the Royal Academy of Arts.

The scheme at 180 Piccadilly will require the flattening of two buildings including French Railways House, a 1960s modernist landmark previously used as the headquarters of French state-owned railway firm SNCF.

The architect said that the existing buildings “do not meet the needs of modern office and retail occupiers” and said their replacement would offer more adaptable modern workspace.

The eight-storey French Railways House, which was designed by Shaw & Lloyd with interiors by Charlotte Perriand and Erno Goldfinger, featured projecting letters by Goldfinger spelling out the word ‘France’ on its facade before they were removed in 2013. Perriand is currently the subject of a major retrospective at the Design Museum.

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