The Willis Building (aka 51 Lime Street), London EC3

51 Lime Street is the latest project to be commenced by British Land as part of its City development programme.

51 Lime Street will offer a stunning 28 storey development of the most modern office accommodation in the heart of the City of London. A new public plaza at ground level with accommodation for retail, restaurants and wine bars will further enhance an environment already rich in amenities for staff and visitors.

Two buildings of striking design by Foster and Partners will offer 475,000 sq ft of net floor area of high quality accommodation directly opposite Lloyd's Insurance market, of which 465,000 sq ft is pre-let to Willis Group.

Demolition of the existing building is nearing completion, with construction due to commence within a matter of weeks.

This will become the 3rd tallest building in the City of London, after SwissRe and Tower 42.




http://www.51limestreet.co.uk/images/image1.jpg





http://www.touchproperty.com/user.do?fieldName=File4&card=4&key=71&state=viewImage





http://www.51limestreet.co.uk/images/image2.jpg





http://www.51limestreet.co.uk/images/image3.jpg

http://www.51limestreet.co.uk

Looks like a good addition for London, too bad its not a bit higher, but still a nice design.

This building was redesigned slightly, and there were rumours of a height increase. In the end, it turned out to be an extra 0.1m (10 centimetres).
lol :)

As said, could've been taller but it's massive and I like it. To me skyscrapers primarily represent urban density which this will, actual height is just a bonus.

fantastic design, although short but massive :D
lovely to see those differences between old and futuristic buildings!

truely a great addition

Foster and Partners are doing wonders for the London skyline.

wow.. this is great project - wish to see it now ;000

great project!

what was before this construction get started?? can sombody give me some pictures???

what was before this construction get started?? can sombody give me some pictures???

Here are pics of the site just as demolition was starting:



http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/neostorm/Darren/51LimeStreet4.jpg




http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/neostorm/Darren/51LimeStreet2.jpg




http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/neostorm/Darren/51LimeStreet3.jpg




http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/neostorm/Darren/51LimeStreet1.jpg

^Was the old arch with a coat-of-arms also demolished wjfox?

Yep, that whole building has gone.

Yep, that whole building has gone.

what was the old building? seemed quite interesting, actually...

I was a little dissapointed with the original height... But the extra 10cm has made sleeping at night much easier :D I can't wait till they get this building up, looks great from the renders. I saw the current building being prepared for demolision some time ago, I may go down there again tonight to see it's progress for myself.

Pretty good looking building, but it looks like the facade is going to decide if this building's a winner or not... Nevertheless, I am very sure it's gonna be!

it would be nice to see more renders, i dont like it that much...

The previous building was built in 1958, so it isn't old.

Those are pretty much the only renders that were released, which is a shame because it will be a very striking tower, especially from the south and east. It also looks good on the skyline and complements the growing cluster well.

There's another rendering somewhere in this (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=100196&page=1) thread, but I can't be bothered to trawl through 320+ posts to find it :)

It's a street level view, looking north towards St Helen's Square, with Lloyds on the left of the image and 51 Lime Street on the right.

I like the way its a large bulky building providing a good step up to taller towers to come. Its a much taller building than it comes across as being, it will be the third talles in the City when finished.

I think it will compliment the cluster well and prepare it for the spate of towers soon to arrive.

[QUOTE=wjfox2002]QUOTE]

big thanks for fotos

It will actually be the 4th tallest... CityPoint is taller.

Yes, you're right. Only by 2 metres though!

I got muddled up and thought Citypoint was 122m, but it's actually 127m.

The UK are really consistant in making unique and beautiful modern designs, the country's already loaded with them, lets just hope it continues for along time to come.

P.S

This is HCT tower in Birmingham at 130m ... so on comparison Lime Street will look huge especially considering the massive bulk of it. A tremendous addition to Londons Skyline

:applause:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/Robdann/Construction/HCT8thFebruary2005.jpg

Brittania, its the fourth talles is it?? I thought i read somewhere officially that it would be the third tallest, are they not claiming this, or did i just get it from some random site?

From SkyscraperNews.com

New Lime Street Tower To Begin Immediately

The newest planned tower in the City, the Willis Building on Lime Street is due to start construction almost immediately after full consent has been awarded to the revised design.

The 125m tall tower has increased slightly in height but apart from that it remains near identical. Designed by Norman Foster it will stand immediately over the road to the north of Lloyds of London and will be the new headquarters for London insurance group Willis.

The section 106 is expected to be signed in the next few days and construction should start almost immediately as the developer British Land have spent the past several months clearing the site of the old building.
Bets are now being taken on whether the Broadgate Tower at 201 Bishopsgate (http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=1639) will be their next project in the City to start following an announcement from a director last year before the prelet was signed that they would build either the 51 Lime Street or 201 Bishopsgate site speculatively.




http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/78WillisBuilding_pic1.jpg




http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/151NewLimeStreetTowerToBeginImmediately_pic1.jpg

Here's a rendering I did myself.



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscrapers/51limestreet.jpg

thanks for the render, its nice to have an idea how it will work in the skyline!

Another rendering.

This includes the neighbouring Leadenhall Building (225m).



http://tinypic.com/1zslq9

amazing building, truly great :) wow

Brittania, its the fourth talles is it?? I thought i read somewhere officially that it would be the third tallest, are they not claiming this, or did i just get it from some random site?

No, it'll be 4th tallest in the City. 3rd tallest in the Eastern Cluster.

Will... that render from St. Helen's is the old design. I'll try and scan you the new one if I get a chance.

Fantastic Tower, pity it's not a bit taller :-)

Why does London (probably takes the whole GDP of GB to generate scrapers) seem set on building such ugly scrapers in such a beautifull city? Oh well at least you can call em unique.

GB's GDP is around the 7th largest in the world

Londons skyscrapers are all damn good looking, and at least as unique and special as the older buildings which make london what it is.

List of countries by GDP (nominal)

2005 GDP (nominal)

1 United States 12,486,624
2 Japan 4,663,823
3 Germany 2,730,109
4 United Kingdom 2,227,551
5 France 2,054,880
6 People's Republic of China 1,772,724
7 Italy 1,709,668
8 Canada 1,034,532
9 Spain 1,019,024
10 India 719,819

Why does London (probably takes the whole GDP of GB to generate scrapers) seem set on building such ugly scrapers in such a beautifull city? Oh well at least you can call em unique.

Britain is the worlds 4th richest economy nob head !

Another unique London tower!

I don't think it'll look ugly; it'll just add to the city's nice blend of old and new.

It will look nothing like those two renders wjfox has done , as hes taken a picture from a render looking up from ground level which has been pasted into a pictures looking across the horizon.This makes it look like the building has pointy roofs.
The second offical renders give the proper impression of how it will look.
This is not to bash your work foxy, its just some times renders can give the wrong impression.

^ Yeah, the tower won't be "spikey" like that. The rooves will be flat.

However, the footprint will be slightly curved.

have sombody picture what was there before 2 world war

Why does London (probably takes the whole GDP of GB to generate scrapers) seem set on building such ugly scrapers in such a beautifull city? Oh well at least you can call em unique.


Why do you continue to be a TIT? :sleepy:

i kinda like this building, its different to anything ive seen, very modern

I didn't like 51 Lime Street at first but have grown to like it. I'll be interested to see what this looks like when it's complete.

The official website now has a webcam (
http://www.51limestreet.com/gallery_cam.htm).

Construction should be starting in a matter of weeks.



http://tinypic.com/2ikxnn


^ You can see the Lloyds Building (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=52105) in the top left corner.

Wow, I like the design, it's very good. Though I'm not too happy about the Leadenhall, but maybe that'll change when I see it completed (I sure hope so)

walked past the site two days ago and it looks like its almost clear. this tower is gonna be good!

have somebody a p[icture how look lime street before 2 world war that will be amaizing compare!

can't wait to see the construction start

Couple of new renderings.

Actually, I've seen this first one before - but this is a much larger version:



http://www.skyscrapernews.com/dump/51L2.jpg




http://www.skyscrapernews.com/dump/51L1.jpg

And the latest progress on the site :



http://tinypic.com/2n4obk

Wasn't there a crane on site?
I would think they would leave it up for the constrction of the actual building.

This is a great design. When is it supposed to be completed?

When is it supposed to be completed?

December 2006 apparently.

Wasn't there a crane on site?
I would think they would leave it up for the constrction of the actual building.
yes there was a white crane????

I like the stepped design, I think it'll fit in just fine in that area of london.

A quick update.

Most of the site has now been cleared. The construction cranes should be installed this weekend, then work on the piling and foundations will commence.



http://tinypic.com/4rw45h




http://tinypic.com/4rw31g

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/dump/51L1.jpg

this looks WAY More then 125m... its awesome! ;)

never mind the height, thats an added extra, its a quality design, and if it gets cladding as good as that, well....*droool*

thats a decent hole...

http://www.tvaerials.net/images/lime150505.jpg



http://tinypic.com/53ppj4



http://tinypic.com/53ppjm

I'll try and get some pictures tomorrow of Lime Str, Tabard Sqaure and Palestra. Will do a bit of revision in London to make up for lost time :D

A rendering I did, showing the view from Waterloo Bridge.

http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscrapers/51limestreet/1.jpg





And a close-up...

http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscrapers/51limestreet/2.jpg

will it seriosuly be that WIDE?

Yes, it's going to be a huge building - almost the same floorspace as SwissRe.

well... anyhow its a pretty building :)

I don't know why but i'm not too keen on the look of this, I hope it looks nicer when it is built.

^ i agree

Best view will be from the South Bank around City Hall I reckon. From Waterloo Bridge (the view I posted above), it will appear as a rather blank wall of glass and steel, but from the South Bank you'll be able to see the setbacks, and it will appear taller and more prominent.

The taller crane should be going up this week :)

The 2nd crane has gone up. :)

The taller crane should be going up this week :)

It will look much better at street level than on the Skyline, for a better effect on the skyline, they would have to turn it around so that you could see the stepping effect from Waterloo bridge.

It will add density, and maybe a quality cladding will do it justice on the Skyline.

Yup and the 2nd crane is up. Tall and Thin, hehe. :cheers:

The City is going to have a great skyline!

The first of the cores has started to rise!

Pics by DarJoLe.



http://www.neostorm.homechoice.co.uk/Darren/City%20Of%20London/LimeStreetJune2005a.jpg



http://www.neostorm.homechoice.co.uk/Darren/City%20Of%20London/LimeStreetJune2005.jpg

I think it looks a bit scary from the renderings. From ground level, i imagine it might feel a little oppressive. Very wide and not in keeping with the surroundings and therefore i think it's a missed opportunity to create something sleeker and higher. It is a fairly dramatic buliding but i feel it would be better positioned in a different location. What happened to the minerva builidng? That was a fabulously attractive building and is it going to be still built and where abouts? I think the minerva would be better in place of the willis tower.

Its really exciting to see those cores starting to rise.

:omg: It's very close to Lloyds! I haven't realized about this.

The webcams (http://www.51limestreet.com/gallery_cam.htm) were down for a few days, but they're working again now. :)

Thanks to Mikey for this:



http://www.tvaerials.net/images/lime240605.jpg

Two weeks without update and building is raising from the ground level!

Aerial views of the site.

Thanks to Rickster2K for these.



http://img127.echo.cx/img127/6159/imgp01556sg.jpg



http://img210.echo.cx/img210/8319/imgp01546qu.jpg


:)

确实很丑,MOD

确实很丑,MOD
I literally couldn't care less what you think of it, troll.

I literally couldn't care less what you think of it, troll.

you understood? :runaway:

what was that all about ?

Tiger is a childish troll who hates everything British.

He caused the closure of 2 threads in City V City 3 times. (one was reopened)

Aerial views of the site.

Thanks to Rickster2K for these.



http://img127.echo.cx/img127/6159/imgp01556sg.jpg



http://img210.echo.cx/img210/8319/imgp01546qu.jpg


:)

The first picture is amazing!
What is the name of that brown tower at the left bottom?It resembles quite well the victorian age.

确实很丑,MOD

但您是非常丑恶的也是 :bash:

但您是非常丑恶的也是 :bash:

it seems not to be a good english-chinese translation software. :lol:

i like some british songs regardless,but really dislike birtish architectures,真的很丑. :yes:

The first picture is amazing!
What is the name of that brown tower at the left bottom?It resembles quite well the victorian age.

No.1 Minster Court


It took me 20min of searching through Emporis just to find it out for ya.

No.1 Minster Court


It took me 20min of searching through Emporis just to find it out for ya.

Thank you so much eddyk :okay:
I always liked that building since my first visit to LDN when I was too young.

Pics of Minster Court here: http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=136688&page=1

:)

^The link doesn't work.

Does for me....I love it, I gave it a 9.

If it was 4 times the height it would be winning all the skyscraper awards and would be a real classic.

Ive bumped it up for ya now anyway in Rate a Scraper.

Ok...I'll see it at the Rate a Scraper section then. :okay:

wjfox200, thanks for the pics!

This aerial shot is great!

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/n.e.bullock/Web%20upload/June%2030%20morning%201%20copy.jpg

So, is that the base for the main core?

Although the design is not too bad I have some doubts about how nice this one will look combined with the rest around it. Several other new proposed towers there look way much better....this is one that is just too low and also a bit too wide IMHO :)

Sikario

This is probably the start of a general excavation under the tower from piling platform level to pile caps. You can see the top of the large diameter piles appearing.

WWW

http://www.cranesetc.co.uk