"PHALLIC symbols always seem to attract attention," says Mr Paul French, the editor of the Architect's Journal "This one could join the mile-high club and be compared to the tallest structures in Tokyo."
The Baltic Exchange in London, which was virtually bombed out of existence by the IRA in 1992, could be replaced by the tallest structure in Europe. Redevelopment plans have been submitted to the English Heritage planning commission, which will make its decision later this year.
The design, by Sir Norman Foster, is for a 324m (1,003ft), 90-storey building. II would dwarf the United Kingdom's tallest structure, Canary Wharf Tower, which is 258m (800ft) tall.
But the previous owners of the site are not enthused. They claim they were misled over a requirement to restore the Grade II listed building.
The original Baltic Exchange, built between 1900 and 1904, was one of the first steel-framed structures of the time. The technique enabled the architects to erect a glass dome over the Rhodesian teak-panelled trading room with its Greek and Italian marbled floor.
Stained-glass memorial panels were set into the dome after the first World War. The foyer was decorated with crests of the maritime nations while the facade was of pink Swedish granite, with the upper floors decorated with giant columns and a pediment.
The Baltic Exchange received a £27.6 million sterling insurance pay-out after the IRA bombing. But more than £6 million of this was spent on compensating bereaved families and providing alternative accommodation for the exchange.
However, when it was learnt that it would cost £20 million simply to rebuild the trading floor and the facade, it was decided to move to an empty building, owned by the Trafalgar House group, next door. Its new home cost the exchange £12.75 million, with £10 million deducted by Trafalgar House in return for the free hold of the old Baltic Exchange site.
But after the removal men left, the legal profession moved in.
English Heritage, which oversees listed historic buildings in the UK, is facing legal action by the Baltic Exchange. The exchange argues that it could have sold the site for a better price if English Heritage had not insisted on the restoration of the trading floor.
In October Trafalgar House will unveil its replacement plan. The proposal has already elicited some welcoming signs from English Heritage.
The chief executive of the Baltic Exchange, Mr Jim Buckley, is angered by the apparent change in rules at English Heritage.
When the exchange owned the site he was threatened with legal action for failing to restore the building. But Trafalgar House has been encouraged to believe it will succeed with its plan for an office block covering the entire area.
"We had to sell at a knockdown price because English Heritage insisted we had to restore the building even though the cost would have bankrupted us," Mr Buckley said. "I have no quarrel with Trafalgar House, but since they bought it there has been a change in the rules."
As far as English Heritage is concerned the Trafalgar House plans, which were put to them in July, did not provide for restoration of the trading floor, and this plan remains on the table. The official response is that they are "very keen" to see some kind of reconstruction of the historic building incorporated into a modern structure.
Mr Paul Drury of English Heritage said the policy had changed partly because water had severely damaged the fabric of the remains of the Baltic Exchange,
"If we stuck by the need for conservation we would have been left with a replica of an Edwardian building with a large, useless hall sitting incongruously in the middle of a very ugly office block."
The owners of the Baltic Exchange agree. For reasons of commerce rather than aesthetics, their original plan was to restore the exchange up to the third floor, with an office block designed by Sir Norman Foster above it.
"We just couldn't get anyone interested in renting it," said Mr Alan Winter, the managing director of Trafalgar House. "With the restoration of the hall the available office space was much smaller and commercial reality dictated that we had to think again.