Having just received an update on the latest plans for construction on the Southbank, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the skyscrapers that will be appearing on the London skyline in the near future. Let’s start, however, with some information on the latest addition, The Shard.
As you know The Shard is London’s latest tall building and the tallest building in the European Union, and second only to the Mercury City Tower in Moscow on the wider continent. Work is continuing on the internal fitting out, and you’ll soon be able to visit the viewing galleries at the top of the building, which open to the public on 1 February next year (although at the princely sum of £24.95 for adults and £18.95 for children that’s £87.80 for a family of four).
The next tower to rise into the sky will be 20 Fenchurch St, which will top out at 160 metres and is due for completion in 2014. Already colloquially known as the ‘walkie talkie’ this building actually looms outwards as it rises – the upper floors (which are always the most desirable in a big office development) will actually be bigger than the building’s lower floors. Unlike the Shard (which will accommodate offices, a hotel and apartments) 20 Fenchurch St is purely an office development which will have 36 floors. You can get a good impression of how the building will look right now because the concrete and structural steelwork has very recently been completed.
Currently at the early stages of construction, the Pinnacle is a twisting structure that has acquired the nickname the ‘helter skelter’, and which sits on Bishopsgate. When completed it will be by far the tallest building in the City of London at 288 metres – over 50 metres taller than the highest building in the collection of skyscrapers over at Canary Wharf. Right now it has a rather less endearing nickname – local workers call it ‘the stump’ because a 20 storey high concrete core has sat, unloved, on the site since early 2012 as the project has repeatedly run out of funds to allow construction to continue. There’s an interesting article on building.co.uk which goes into some of the financial goings on that could possibly see this project abandoned altogether.
One tower that is definitely going to make its mark is the Leadenhall Tower at 122 Leadenhall St. Designed by Richard Rogers, this building has a striking triangular profile (it has this shape so that it does not to obscure the protected sight lines towards St Paul’s Cathedral) and is due to be completed in 2014. Again it has a nickname, ‘the cheesegrater’, and will be 225 metres tall when it is finished. As with the Pinnacle, it is intended that this will be a purely office development. One interesting fact about the site is the demolition process that was undertaken to clear away the previous building – because of the very confined space in this part of the City they couldn’t use the conventional method of blowing it up! Instead the old building was demolished from the ground floor upwards until only the concrete core remained – this was then taken down in 2008.
There are several other buildings slated for construction in the near future but the most likely one to go ahead is the 163 metre high Beetham Tower which will sit at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge and provide a diminutive little brother to The Shard on this side of the Thames. To be built by St George (the arm of Berkeley Homes that specialises in high-rise apartments) the building will contain flats, although with it’s sought-after river view it naturally won’t be offering the affordable accommodation that London is crying out for these days…
To close, here’s a gallery of artists impressions that will give you a good idea of what these remarkable buildings will look like and how they will change London’s skyline. For interesting discussion on London’s architecture I can heartily recommend a visit to the Skyscraper City site, which always seems to get the low-down on these construction projects.
About Pete Stean
