Plans for a boxy, futurist, multi-story Iranian embassy and contemporary art center in South Kensington, one of London’s poshest neighborhood, have riled up local residents — so much so that certain irate citizens have written letters to Prince Charles, calling upon the royal opponent of modernist architecture to step in and shut down the project.

As designed by Vienna-based Daneshgar Architects, the proposed Iranian embassy would cost at least $160 million to build and feature a "dramatic cantilevered arch, acutely-angled walls and irregularly punched-out windows," according to the Guardian. Freely open to the public, the space would also contain galleries for showing work by emerging Iranian artists.  

As the Telegraph reports, the futuristic-looking embassy would be an architecturally jarring addition to an area known for its Victorian and Georgian townhouses. But as the period of public consultation on the project is officially closed, residents have little recourse for official complaint. This has not stopped design traditionalists for speaking out against the structure that would replace the current, more conservative Iranian embassy down the street — the site of the 1980 terrorist siege and subsequent rescue mission, which ended in the death of five gunmen and one hostage.

"It is totally inappropriate to locate such a strident modern building in such a sensitive conservation area, directly next to a magnificent listed church," architectural scholar Simon Jenkins told the Telegraph. But chairman of the nation’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment Paul Finch spoke to the Guardian in defense of the proposed design, saying, "The building seems to be a statement that they are a contemporary culture rather than utterly traditionalist and it’s rather surprising and refreshing in that sense."

Critics of the design have been looking to the Prince of Wales, whose willingness to leverage royal power in opposition of non-traditional architecture has caused him controversy of late, to intercede in the project. Last year he halted work on a modern structure that members of Qatar’s ruling family had commissioned the nearby neighborhood of Chelsea Barracks. Representatives at Clarence House, the Prince’s London home, have stated that they are waiting for the arrival of the complaint letters to pen their responses — a delay that (if possible) makes this entire debate seem even more stodgy and antiquated.