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The Scalpel | City of London | 190m | 39 fl

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#1 · (Edited)
So as not to keep cluttering up the Pinnacle thread; W.R. Berkley in talks with Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF) to design a new 40 story tower on 52-54 Lime Street (27 Leadenhall Street). W.R. Berkley are currently based at 40 Lime Street opposite the Lloyds Building and Willis building and have bought the land.

July 11, 2012 11:30 pm
US insurer to scale up European profile - From ft.com

Do you reckon they might want to build this on the Pinnacle site? They say next door to Lloyds and I can't think of any other locations?

A large US insurer has struck a deal with the City of London to build its own skyscraper, underlining the rapidly growing presence of international insurers in the Square Mile.

WR Berkley, which has a market value of $5.4bn, is understood to have agreed terms with the City’s planning authorities to construct a 40-storey tower next door to the offices of Lloyd’s of London.

WR Berkley is among the largest providers of insurance to midsized companies in the US. The company is scaling up its operations in Europe, with offices in Germany, Ireland, Spain and Norway. The agreement to build its own skyscraper follows a flurry of deals by US insurers to expand their office space in the centre of London, taking advantage of the shrinking of banks, which have long dominated the City office market.

In January, Aon signed a lease on 191,000 sq ft of office space in the nearby Leadenhall building, under construction and nicknamed the Cheese Grater. Meanwhile, Markel took up a 51,000 sq ft pre-let agreement last month on Land Securities’ 36-storey Walkie-Talkie building.

The building would become one of five skyscrapers under construction in the Square Mile, which, in contrast to the low levels of development outside of the UK capital, has seen a spike in demand for new office space. The buildings are expected to capture some of the demand arising from lease expiries and breaks, expected to hit 3m sq ft a year in the City until 2017.

However, the City is undergoing a transformation in terms of its occupiers. Many of the large investment banks have relocated to Canary Wharf, favouring the wide floor plates and ability to have all of their staff in one building. The cost of office space in the City is also a big driver. Prime office rents in Canary Wharf are at £36 per sq ft a year, compared with £55 per sq ft in the City.

The departure of many traditional occupiers has opened the door for other industries, such as technology, media and professional services businesses.

However, it is the rise of the insurance sector in the City market which has spurred on letting activity during the first half of this year. A recent report from CBRE, the estate agents, said that there are 13 insurers actively searching for a combined 1m sq ft of office space in central London.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/0...86B0C220120712

 
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#278 ·
This was always pretty much nailed on to get planning but still nice to see it confirmed. I don't really understand all of the recent criticism of this building. People have to accept that not every new high-rise will be an architectural gem. Perhaps people have been spoiled a little in this part of the city. IMO this will be a fine addition to the skyline - looking forward to seeing it rise.
 
#283 ·
immense news. London is going to look great in 4 - 5 years time. Shame it's such a while away.

This 'Scalpel' is going to look great where it is going, that area does seem to be getting very overcrowded though, not that that's a bad thing.

The Scalpel would have looked great next to the shard, as the shard's little baby.
 
#286 ·
Just read the news on Skyscrapernews.com and i am so glad this project will be taking place!
Hopefully (fingers crossed) the Pinnacle will re-start soon and i hope any re-design is not too different and that the height remains around 288m - could even be taller :cheers:
 
#294 ·
no major project has ever been turned down. of course if you want to be really pedantic it's not approved until the S106 payments have been made, as approval is conditional to them ;)

SkyScrapernews gets its information from primary sources. It doesn't 'lift' anything.
and naughty me lifting news from a bloody press release, probably the same one as everyone else got.
 
#299 ·
Its been a running joke on this forum for years that whenever someone posts anything of interest it magically appears on another well connected site within 24hrs.

People have got fed up with being a feeder for another site. Why do you think the forum is in such a dire state and so little news is posted here and its left to the tired old broken record of Old is lovely, new is bad debate to fill the void in this forum.
 
#296 ·
I have to say I'm a bit pissed off by the recent comments from London Lad and DarJoLe.

Gothicform's website is great and got me inspired to follow the news of London's developing skyline, and is the reason I joined this site. I'm sure many people on SSC use your site for recent news.

Thank you Gothicform for developing your website, I and I'm sure many others here appreciate your hard work.
 
#300 · (Edited)
Exactly why I gave up posting news articles and photos a while back. So much news and planning applications out there that no longer gets reported here because they know why bother because when you do someone else takes all the glory a few days later.

Not to mention the factual inaccuracies that often crop up because the design and access statements haven't been read properly have damaged several planning applications when news articles are read by local people against developments.

I'm sure there is a lot of work behind the website (although from what I have heard it wasn't exactly an 'original' website in the beginning) but there's only so much goodwill you an give before you realise who's actually doing all the feeding.
 
#308 ·
Exactly why I gave up posting news articles and photos a while back. So much news and planning applications out there that no longer gets reported here because they know why bother because when you do someone else takes all the glory a few days later.
Then spend the time making your own site which collects all articles in one place, to make it easy for people to get a good view of all recent applications etc!!

DarJoLe, out of all 'forumers?' I respect your opinions and views the most, but now I'm just really disappointed in you.
 
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