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London - Full Summary of Projects 20

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Previous London summary threads:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

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London Bridge Tower - the "Shard of Glass"
Southwark

Height: 309m | Floors: 72 | Architect: Renzo Piano | Developer: Sellar Property Group

Links: Forum thread | Official website | Renzo Piano Building Workshop | Skyscrapernews listing | Station redevelopment

Notes:
  • This landmark tower will be the first building in the UK to break the 1000 foot barrier. It will be nearly twice the height of the Gherkin,
    and one of the tallest buildings in Europe.
  • London's first truly "mixed use" tower, the floors will be divided into a mixture of residential, office, hotel, retail and public space.
  • Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the tower was structurally redesigned to improve stability and reduce evacuation times.
  • The tower went through a lengthy public inquiry. It was approved by the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, on 19th November 2003.
  • The total cost of the project is in excess of £1.2bn and includes major refurbishment of the neighbouring train and bus stations.
  • The tower has two main tenants lined up - Shangri-La Hotels, who will be occupying floors 34-52 - and Transport for London who will
    take some of the office space.
  • Financial issues plagued the tower for years, but were resolved in 2008 when four Qatari banks took an 80% stake
    in the project (buying-out both CLS and Simon Halabi). All funding and contracts were subsequently secured.
Current Status:
Under construction!
The tower will be topped-out in late 2010 and is scheduled for practical completion by May 2012.




The Pinnacle
The City

Height: 288m | Floors: 63 | Architect: Kohn Pederson Fox | Developer: Arab Investments

Links: Forum thread | Bishopsgate Tower promotional video (23mb) | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • At 288m, the Pinnacle will form the centrepiece of London’s financial district and will dramatically alter the skyline.
    It will be over 100 metres taller than Tower 42.
  • Plans for a tower on this site have been around since 2002. A previous design by Helmut Jahn was scrapped following concerns over
    the base and crown, and its effect on views from Fleet Street. The revised design - by architects Kohn Pederson Fox - is more
    sleek and elegantly proportioned, and is intended to complement the neighbouring proposals such as the Leadenhall Building.
  • A planning application was submitted in June 2005. A revised planning application with a 19m height reduction was submitted
    and given final approval in April 2006. In November 2006, the developers secured funding for the project from Arab Investments.
    Having been known as the Bishopsgate Tower, the project was renamed "The Pinnacle".
  • The full planning report for the tower can be accessed by clicking here.
Current Status:
Currently work is progressing towards the completion of the basement levels and up to level 1. Further pre-lets and funding is needed before the tower can progress beyond that. Topping-out is scheduled for late 2012, with the building due to open in 2013.





Heron Tower
The City

Height: 246m (202m roof + 44m spire) | Floors: 47 | Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates | Developer: Heron International PLC

Links: Forum thread | Skanska project page with news updates | Mayor Ken Livingstone's comments | Architects' website

Notes:
  • Following concerns from English Heritage about its impact on St Paul's and other historic views, Heron Tower was put through
    a public inquiry. The inquiry ruled in favour of the developers, and the tower was approved on 22nd July 2002 by the Deputy
    Prime Minister, John Prescott. He agreed with the planning inspector that no significant harm would come to the setting of
    St Paul's cathedral and that some marginal impact on heritage interests was "inevitable with any major development".
    He acknowledged that the tower would be "an elegant, graceful and well proportioned structure" and would contribute to the
    overall supply of office accommodation in the City, as well as boosting the economy.
  • The scheme includes an additional smaller tower of 148m, immediately adjacent to the main building's north side.
    This is Heron Plaza and will include a mix of hotel and leisure space, along with a new public square.
Current Status:
Topped out! For more information see the construction schedule.



Columbus Tower
Canary Wharf

Height: 237m | Floors: 65 | Architect: DMWR Architects | Developer: Commercial Estates Group

Links: Forum thread | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This is a massive hotel and residential scheme for a site just outside the Canary Wharf estate.
  • If built, it would become the tallest building in the Docklands - overtaking both 1 Canada Square and Riverside South.
  • The crown of the building has been deliberately designed to evoke the Thames Flood Barrier.
Current Status:
This project has been floating around for many years. Planning permission was renewed in October 2009, following the intervention
of Boris Johnson. It is unclear when construction will begin. However, the current buildings on site are leased for the next few years
which could delay things further.



Riverside South
Canary Wharf

Height: 236m and 189m | Floors: 45 and 37 | Architect: Richard Rogers | Developer: Canary Wharf Group

Links: Forum thread | Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners - project detail (note - this features the older design) | SkyscraperNews listing - tower 1 | SkyscraperNews listing - tower 2

Notes:
  • The tallest tower was given a height increase, making it structurally taller than 1 Canada Square (but shorter by AOD height).
  • In terms of floorspace, this will be the largest single office development in Europe - over 3 million square feet.
  • JP Morgan were secured as tenants in August 2008.
Current Status:
After a long period of excavation and piling the basement slab was completed, then the constuction was halted. Constuction for the main towers will begin once JP Morgan are committed to the developemnt, which will become their European headquarters once completed.




The Leadenhall Building
The City

Height: 225m | Floors: 48 | Architect: Richard Rogers | Developer: British Land PLC/Oxford Properties

Links: Forum thread | British Land development page | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This tower is designed by Richard Rogers, the man behind Lloyds of London, the Dome, and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.
  • Despite its height, the building has a relatively small amount of floorspace (500,000 sq ft), due to its unusual profile
    which means the floorplates gradually decrease the higher up it goes.
  • The base will feature a 90 ft high atrium, extending the public area of St Helens and providing shelter from the elements.
  • Glass lifts will carry employees up the outside of the building, similar to those on the Lloyds Building only twice as high.
  • Click here to view the full planning report from the Corporation of London.

Current Status:
British Land have teamed up with Canadian developers Oxford Properties to jointly develop the tower, constuction is expected to stard early 2011.



North Quay
Canary Wharf

Height: 216m/203m/120m | Floors: 44/38/18 | Architect: Cesar Pelli | Developer: Canary Wharf Group

Links: Forum thread | Architect's website | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This trio of towers would be situated on a 7-acre site at the northern edge of the Canary Wharf estate. Previously known
    as "Shed 35", the site was sold to Canary Wharf Group with planning permission for a mixed-use development.
  • In total, the North Quay scheme will provide over 4 million sq ft of floorspace for retail and offices.
  • Development is likely to take place after the completion of the Churchill Place and Riverside South districts.
    However, there could be further delays in the form of Crossrail (see below).
Current Status:
Approved, but unlikely to rise until 2017 or even later. The main problem lies with Crossrail, part of which is going
to run directly underneath the towers.




City Pride
Canary Wharf

Height: 209m | Floors: 61 | Architect: Norman Foster & Partners | Developer: Glenkerinn UK

Links: Forum thread | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This massive residential skyscraper is planned by developer Glenkerrin, on the site of a pub in the Docklands. The site was bought for £32m.
  • In terms of floor count, only the Shard and Pinnacle will be higher.
  • The tower has faced considerable opposition from local residents.
Current Status:
It is thought Glenkerrin are planning to sell the sight. The future of this tower is unknown at this time.




Wood Wharf
Canary Wharf

Height: 200m/187m/182m/154m | Floors: Various | Architect: Richard Rogers Partnership | Developer: British Waterways & Canary Wharf Group

Links: Forum thread | Official website

Notes:
  • Wood Wharf is one of the largest urban projects in London. It will lead to the redevelopment of a huge, largely derelict area
    to the immediate east of Canary Wharf. This will be a mixed-use scheme, with 3.5 million square feet of office space and around
    1,500 homes along with retail, leisure and hotels. The office space would effectively be a seamless expansion of the Canary Wharf
    business district, albeit not officially part of the Canary Wharf estate.
  • The development includes four skyscrapers of 200m, 187m, 182m, 154m and a number of smaller buildings.
Current Status:
The final masterplan was approved in October 2008. Two of the towers from the masterplan have been submitted for planning.
The entire development is expected to take around 10 years to build.




Heron Quays West
Canary Wharf

Height: 198m/147m/95m | Floors: 33/21/12 | Architect: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners | Developer: Canary Wharf Group

Links: Forum thread

Notes:
  • This trio of office towers would be built to the immediate west of the Heron Quays buildings.
  • Together, they would add nearly 200,000 square metres of internal floorspace space to the Canary Wharf estate,
    including the largest trading floors in Europe (7,962 sq m, compared with 6,673 sq m for the current record holder in the City).
Current Status:
Approved in March 2008. It is unclear when construction will begin.



1 Park Place
Canary Wharf

Height: 197m | Floors: 45 | Architect: Horden Cherry Lee | Developer: Grattan Property Company Ltd

Links: Forum thread | Architect's website

Notes:
  • This will stand just to the east of the Riverside South towers.
  • The tower's height is 191m to the roof, but includes a facade overrun going up to 197m.
Current Status:
The tower was approved in August 2008. Demolition of the current building has started, but it is unclear whether construction of the tower will follow.



St George Tower
Lambeth

Height: 181m | Floors: 49 | Architect: Broadway Malyan | Developer: St George

Links: Forum thread | Broadway Malyan | Official website | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • If built, this would be the tallest all-residential tower in the UK and one of the tallest in Europe.
  • Energy efficiency is one of the project's most important features. The structure is topped by a wind turbine, which
    will power the common lighting. At the base, water will be drawn from the London Aquifer and heat pump technology
    will be used to remove warmth from the water in the winter to heat the apartments. The tower will require one-third
    of the energy compared to a similar building and CO2 release will be between one half and two-thirds of normal
    emissions. It will be triple glazed to minimise heat loss and gain, with low ‘e’ glazing and ventilated blinds between
    the glazing to further reduce heat gain.
Current Status:
Groundwork and piling have started. Constuction of the main tower to follow.



100 Bishopsgate
The City

Height: 165m | Floors: 40 | Architect: Allies and Morrison | Developer: Great Portland Estates

Links: Forum thread | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This tower would stand on a site immediately to the south of the Heron Tower. If viewed from Waterloo Bridge, it would be
    obscured by Tower 42.
  • Construction is unlikely to start until 2011 (see below).
Current Status:
This was approved in April 2007. However, the current site lease runs until early 2011.


1 Blackfriars Road - "Mirax-Beetham Tower"
Southwark SE1

Height: 163m | Floors: 52 | Architect: Ian Simpson Architects | Developer: Beetham Organization

Links: Forum thread | Exhibition photos and information | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • Originally proposed at 70 floors/220m, this has twice been reduced in height, and the footprint has shrunk.
  • A public viewing gallery will be located on the top floor, offering stunning views across the capital.
  • The building will feature a 6-star Jumeirah hotel and luxury apartments, each with their own internal conservatory space.

Current Status:
Approved in March 2009 following a lengthy public inquiry. This scheme is currently under admonistration while Beetham looks for a new partner after it became apparent that its previous partner Mirax were no longer able to committ to the project because of their financial problems.


Northgate Tower (Bishops Place)
Hackney/City border

Height: 161m/126m | Floors: 51/35 | Architect: Foster & Partners | Developer: Hammerson

Links: Forum thread | Technical drawings | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This is a major mixed-use scheme on the City/Hackney border, immediately adjacent to the Broadgate Tower.
  • Originally, it was intended that a historic pub, the Light Bar, would be demolished. However, following a campaign by
    local residents, along with objections from CABE, this was saved and incorporated into the plans.
Current Status:
A revised application was granted planning permission in November 2009. After substantial enabling works (due to nearby rail lines),
the residential tower should be U/C by mid-2012.



20 Fenchurch Street - the "Walkie Talkie"
The City

Height: 160m | Floors: 36 | Architect: Rafael Vinoly | Developer: Land Securities

Links: Forum thread | Official website | Skyscrapernews listing

Notes:
  • This project replaces a 91m tower from the 1960s. It involved a very lengthy demolition process.
  • Opinions are very divided on this tower's unusual design. Following criticism about its height and impact on the views
    of St Pauls Cathedral, it was reduced by 9 floors, from 45 to 36. It subsequently went throgh a public inquiry
    (the 4th London skyscraper to go through this process), and was finally approved in July 2007. The full planning report
    can be accessed here.
Current Status:
Demolition and site preparation was completed in June 2009. After a hiatus due to the financial crisis, Land Securities will restart construction in late 2010.



The Millharbour Quarter
Canary Wharf

Height: 151m | Floors: 46 | Architect: Foster & Partners | Developer: Millharbour LLP / Millharbour 2LLP

Links: Forum thread | Skyscrapernews story

Notes:
  • A mixed-use development, featuring nine buildings in total, this will substantially increase the density of the area.
  • It was originally planned as six towers of around 100m. The tallest will now be 151m - taller than nearby Pan Peninsula.
Current Status:
Proposed in October 2009.



Crossharbour - "Baltimore Wharf"
Tower Hamlets

Height: 150m | Floors: 45 | Architect: Skidmore Owings & Merrill | Developer: Ballymore Properties Ltd

Links: Forum thread

Notes:
  • This major residential development would stand to the south-east of the Canary Wharf cluster.
  • It has gone through a series of design changes, at one point being proposed at 170m. This latest version is 150m.
  • It will contain 330 flats, plus retail units at ground level.
  • The development includes some neighbouring low-rise buildings, in addition to the main tower.
Current Status:
Approved in July 2008. The neighbouring low-rise buildings have been under construction for some time now. However, it is
unclear when the tower itself will start to rise.



Merchant Square
Westminster

Height: 150m | Floors: 44 | Architect: Perkins & Will | Developer: Paddington Development Corporation Limited

Links: Forum thread | Official website

Notes:
  • This residential development, planned for a site on Harbet Road in Paddington, will contain a total of 223 apartments,
    68 units of which are affordable housing that will occupy the lowest ten floors of the scheme.
  • Several other buildings are planned as part of Merchant Square, ranging in height from 49-66m.
Current Status:
Planning permission was granted for buildings D (52m) and E (63m) in May 2007, and for buildings C (66m) B (65m) and F (49m)
in June 2007. One of the office blocks and another residential block have since topped out. The tallest building (150m)
was approved in July 2007 and work is expected to begin on site in the near future.




Other Projects (various)

This includes all 'midrise' buildings under 150m. Also listed are any other schemes worth mentioning, such as long term projects,
towers in pre-planning, or rumoured but unconfirmed schemes. Projects highlighted in red are under construction. Here they are,
in descending order of height:

  • Three Spires. A trio of snaking towers with heights of 250m, 200m and 100m that would stand to the south-east
    of London Bridge Tower. This mixed-use development is being designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron.

  • Whitgift Centre redevelopment. A major redevelopment of this prominent site in Croydon, South London. The developers have
    hinted at a possible 60-storey tower.

  • Bishopsgate Goods Yard. Ballymore and Hammerson are planning a major redevelopment of this prominent site, at the northern edge of the City.
    Early indications are that it will include towers of 200m+ and a number of surrounding midrises. This could form a cluster with
    the Broadgate Tower and the Northgate Tower.

  • Market Tower redevelopment. Possible 170m and 155m towers for Vauxhall.

  • Odalisk. A mixed-use scheme in Croydon, still at the pre-planning/consultation stage. It has already faced opposition
    from local residents for being too tall. 160m/51 storeys.

  • Cherry Orchard Road Towers. A series of four distinctive towers for East Croydon including a 160m skyscraper. However, the current scheme
    faces a redesign and most likely a substantial reduction in height.

  • Sugar House. A major development for Stratford which includes a tower similar in appearance to 122 Leadenhall.
    Early indications are that the height will be 159m/40 storeys.

  • Broadgate Centre redevelopment. British Land have plans for a massive redevelopment in this prime location next to
    Liverpool Street station, potentially adding over 1.2 million square feet of floorspace. The leases on some of the buildings
    in the Broadgate Centre are due to expire in the next few years, and space is rapidly running out in the estate. Taking advantage
    of changes in the viewing corridors to St Paul's cathedral, they have hinted at the possibility of much taller buildings on some of
    the existing sites, perhaps as high as 150m/35 storeys. These new offices would join the Broadgate Tower literally next door.
    Any construction is unlikely to start until the next property cycle in 2011-2012, however.

  • Heron Plaza. Part of the Heron Tower development, this neighbouring scheme will include a mix of hotel and leisure space, along with a new public square.
    148m/43 storeys.

  • Dollar Bay Tower. A possible mixed-use scheme for the eastern end of Canary Wharf. 46-48 storeys.

  • Strata (formerly the Multiplex Tower). This residential tower was approved in March 2006 as part of the Elephant & Castle
    redevelopment. It began construction in December 2007 and is 147m tall. Update: the tower is topped out, expected to open in 2011.


  • Ram Brewery. Minerva are planning a "new urban quarter” for Wandsworth on the site of the former Young’s Ram brewery.
    The ERP-designed scheme will comprise 700 flats spread across two residential towers of 39 and 29 storeys and
    a mix of low-rise homes, restaurants, shops and a microbrewery. Height of the taller tower would be 146m. They are approved,
    but currently going through a public inquiry.

  • 151 City Road. This prominent site just north of the City was to have featured a striking, colourful tower designed by Will Alsop.
    However, a "less ambitious scheme" will now be proposed because of the economic climate. Height of the previous scheme
    would have been 140m/43 storeys.

  • Doon Street Tower. A residential tower for the South Bank. Previously 168m, but reduced in height following complaints from
    English Heritage. Approved in August 2008 following a public inquiry. New height is 140m/43 storeys.

  • New Providence Wharf Building C. Ballymore are planning a neighbour for the Ontario Tower. Designed by Skidmore,
    Owings & Merrill, it will be 136m/44 storeys. Groundwork began in November 2007.

  • Croydon Gateway Office Tower. Originally planned at 155m, this new scheme is slightly shorter, but now has approval. 135m/30 storeys.

  • Wellesley Square. Berkeley Homes are planning a major residential tower for Croydon, designed by Rolfe Judd. Work may start
    in 2010. Height is 134m/44 storeys.

  • 360 London. First Base won planning permission in September 2007 for this Rogers-designed residential tower near Strata.
    Height is 134m/44 storeys.

  • Eileen House. A residential tower in Elephant & Castle that would join nearby Strata and 360 London.
    Proposed in February 2009, this has been reduced in height due to the intervention of English Heritage.
    Originally 143m/47 storeys, it will now be 134m/41 floors.

  • 20 Blackfriars Road. This project consists of two towers: a 133m residential building and a 98m office building. Although approved in early 2009
    following a PI, it now faces a complete redesign.

  • 150 Stratford High Street. A major residential tower proposed for a site near the Olympic stadium. Height is 133m/41 storeys.

  • 225 Marsh Wall. Residential tower shaped like a number one - "1". Cancelled in mid-2009, it has now gone back into planning.
    Height is 132m/43 storeys.

  • 100 City Road. This residential tower at the Old Street roundabout was rejected for being too tall. The developers lodged an appeal,
    and won in October 2008. 131m/39 storeys.

  • 30 & 40 Marsh Wall. Possible 39 and 31-storey residential towers for Canary Wharf.

  • 25 Churchill Place. This KPF-designed office tower was given a height increase in May 2008. It will now be 130m/23 storeys.

  • Stratford City Tower. Part of the masterplan for the area includes a 40-storey residential tower, revealed in September 2007.

  • Kings Reach Tower redevelopment. Possible reclad + height increase for this prominent landmark on the South Bank. Already approved,
    the new height would be 127m/34 storeys.

  • Lots Road, Chelsea. Two residential towers, one of 122m/37 storeys and another of 85m/25 storeys. The taller tower
    was originally planned at 99m, but was given a height increase and has now been approved. The shorter building,
    originally planned at 130m, has now been reduced in height, and is approved. The developers were embroiled in a
    dispute with a local NIMBY, but eventually got through the legal process, and the towers now have full approval.
    Demolition began in early 2008.

  • Trafalgar Way Towers. A pair of residential towers designed by Make, at the northeast corner of the
    Canary Wharf estate. They would link the Ontario and Quebec towers with the main cluster and Wood Wharf.
    Heights would be 122m/35 storeys and 104m/29 storeys.

  • Sky Garden Tower. A residential tower in Vauxhall that would stand near St George's Wharf. Approved in October 2008.
    Height is 120m/35 storeys.

  • Newfoundland Tower. Possible 37-storey hotel/residential tower for Canary Wharf, on a site bounded by Park Place,
    Westferry Road and Heron Quays Road. Approximately 120m.

  • Elizabeth House redevelopment. A trio of midrises for Waterloo, adjacent to the station. In October 2008, these
    were called-in for a public inquiry and in October 2009 were refused due to their poor design. Heights are 117m/107m/90m.

  • Convoy's Wharf. A trio of 3 residential towers in Greenwich, all of which are approved. The tallest will be 116m/40-storeys,
    but its AOD height will be significantly higher, at 148m. The other towers will be 91m/32 storeys and 72m/26 storeys respectively.
    Architect is Richard Rogers.

  • Islington City Basin Towers. Two towers with heights of 115m and 90m have outline planning permission for a site
    in Islington, North London.

  • Arrowhead Quay.
    A Docklands office development being planned by Ballymore. Currently on hold. Work has been completed
    up to basement level, however. 114m/26 storeys.

  • Milton Court. Heron International, in partnership with Berkeley Homes, are planning a major residential tower for the City.
    This will stand on a site immediately adjacent to Citypoint, adding to the emerging cluster around Moorgate. 112m/35 floors.
    Demolition began in December 2007.

  • Walbrook Square. A major redevelopment of a prominent site between Cannon Street and Bank stations which has seen
    the demolition of Bucklersbury House, one of the City's ugliest and most prominent eyesores. In its place will
    stand four individual buildings connected by a new public square and 'historic' pedestrian routes, along with an exhibition space
    displaying the remains of the Roman Temple of Mithras. In total, this massive development will contain almost a million square feet
    of floorspace and will feature buildings of 106m, 71m, 67m and 66m. The project received approval in July 2007. However, latest
    reports suggest that it faces a possible redesign and major delays.

  • Pioneer Point North. This pair of residential towers, the tallest in North London, will stand near the Olympic stadium.
    Construction got underway in early 2008. The tallest is 105m/31 storeys.


  • Eagle House. A mixed-use tower for Old Street/City Road, just north of the City. Approved in April 2006. Architect is Terry Farrell
    and the developer is Groveworld. Height is 104m/34 storeys.


  • Cuba Street/Manilla Street development. Yet another residential development for the area just south of Canary Wharf.
    Currently in pre-planning, this could include twin towers of around 30 storeys.

  • Reuters Blackwall Yard Redevelopment. Another project designed by Squire and Partners which includes a residential
    tower of 98m/29 storeys. The development has been approved and will be located near Canary Wharf.
    http://www.skyscrapernews.com/buildings.php?id=591

  • Gypsy Corner Tower. Hamilton Associates are planning a 30-storey residential tower for Acton, West London.

  • Waterloo Trilogy Tower. Willingale Associates have plans for a 30 storey tower - dubbed Waterloo Trilogy Tower - on the
    corner of Waterloo Road and Baylis Road, near the London Eye.

  • 33-35 Commercial Road. A residential tower, designed by Burland TM Architects for a fringe site just to the east of
    the City of London. 95m/36 storeys

  • Ailsa Waterside. Mixed-use development in the Lower Lea Valley which includes 800 new homes in a cluster of towers.
    The tallest is around 95m/30 storeys.

  • Indescon Court. Mixed-use buildings to the south of the main Canary Wharf cluster. The tallest will be 95m/30 storeys.

  • East India Dock Road Development. After the successful launch of the Elektron Tower scheme, Barratt Homes have
    another new project for a site just over the road. This consists of a series of post-modernist yellow apartment blocks,
    the tallest of which is 94m/36 floors.

  • 60-70 St Mary Axe. A new office building designed by Foggo Architects. Height is 90m/18 storeys.

  • Skylon. Originally seen at the Festival of Britain in 1951, there are now plans to resurrect this 90m structure.

  • 20 Albert Embankment. A trio of Foster-designed, mixed-use towers that will form part of a growing cluster of
    developments in the area including St George's Wharf, Vauxhall Sky Gardens and 36-48 Albert Embankment. 89m/27 storeys.

  • Croydon College Vocational Tower. Mixed-use scheme, approved in February 2007, will become the tallest building
    in Croydon, unless Croydon Gateway is built sooner. 88m/29 storeys.

  • 250 City Road. Land Sec are planning a large development that includes a 27 storey tower almost opposite the other
    already consented City Road Basin towers.

  • Trinity One, Two and Three. A series of three mixed-use buildings planned by Beetham for a massive site
    on Minories, in the Aldgate area. Heights are 85m, 60m and 45m. The tallest will feature an observation deck
    and public cafe on the top floor. The scheme was approved in January 2008, but is currently on hold.

  • Quill. A tower containing student accommodation. It would stand just to the east of the Shard. Currently in pre-planning.
    Approximately 85m/28 storeys.

  • Swiss Cottage Station Tower. Manchester developer Pervaiz Naviede is planning a tower of up to 25 storeys in north London,
    after buying a landmark site above Swiss Cottage Tube station from CIT.

  • Alberta House. New residential tower that will join both Ontario Tower and its neighbour to form a mini-cluster to the east
    of Canary Wharf. 82m/24 storeys.


  • 100 West Cromwell Road. Multiplex/Tesco are planning a tower for a site on Cromwell Road / Hammersmith Flyover,
    overlooking the tube from Earls Court to Olympia in West London. 82m/24 storeys.

  • "Baby Shard" (a.k.a. New London Bridge House). As part of the Shard London Bridge development, Irvine Sellar plans to
    demolish New London Bridge House and replace it with another midrise. The first proposal was for a 600,000 sq ft
    office building of 88m, which was approved. A revised design was then submitted for a shorter building of 74m.
    In July 2007, this too was approved. Work is now underway.

  • Orchard Place. Ballymore are planning a huge mixed-use scheme on the Leamouth Peninsula in the Docklands.
    This began construction in July 2007 and consists of 10 towers ranging in height from 44-80m/14-26 floors.

  • NEO Bankside. A trio of residential towers for the South Bank, close to the Tate Modern. The tallest tower will be around 80m/24 storeys.

  • 1 Mitre Square. Another new midrise from Helical Bar, planned for EC3 in the City. Architect is Sheppard Robson.

  • Chesterfield House. New midrise being planned for Wembley, North London. The design is similar to Moorhouse.
    It has been approved since 2001 and is yet to begin work. Height is 80m/19 storeys.

  • 1 Commercial Street. A new 79m office tower for the eastern edge of the City.

  • Aldgate Union. A massive groundscraper under construction on the eastern edge of the City. In total, it will contain
    nearly 600,000 sq ft of floorspace. The 2nd phase will include a tower of 79m/17 storeys.

  • Victoria Towers. As part of the regeneration taking place in Victoria, Land Securities are developing a cluster of office towers.
    Originally proposed at 160m, this project has been scaled down twice, and faces ongoing issues with Westminster council.
    The tallest building is now 79m.

  • Goodmans Fields. A residential scheme planned for a site just to the south of Aldgate. Includes a tower of around 76m/24 storeys.

  • Tate Modern Extension. This major extension of the gallery will include a rather "arty" looking tower of 76m.

  • 252-385 Alie Street. Hamilton Associates have submitted planning proposals for a new 76m/25 storey energy-efficient tower
    in Aldgate. The building will have 287 apartments including affordable housing, plus retail units at ground floor.

  • SilverTree. New residential eco-tower for the Royal Docks in Newham. 24 storeys.

  • Oakmayne Plaza Towers. Three residential towers for Elephant & Castle. They have faced major delays, and now face a possible height reduction too.
    The tallest will be 76m/23 storeys.

  • Great West Quarter. This project, part of the urban regeneration of the Great West Road Corridor, comprises the
    redevelopment of the old Smithkline Beecham H.O. brownfield site into a new large mixed use residential development.
    The project, to be completed in 2010 over a number of phases, will provide in excess of 750 private and affordable
    residential units. The developers are Barratt Homes, and the tallest tower will be around 75m/25 storeys.


  • 81 Black Prince Road. A residential tower near the Albert Embankment. Originally turned down by Lambeth Council, it was approved following
    a public inquiry. 24 storeys.

  • 36-48 Albert Embankment. A fin-shaped residential tower. Refused planning permission in January 2009. 75m/23 storeys.

  • 32-42 Bethnal Green Road. A residential tower for a site just north of the Bishopsgate Goods Yard. 74m/25 storeys.

  • 399 Edgware Road. New 72m residential tower, approved in November 2006.

  • 30 The North Colonnade. This is one of several new midrises for Canary Wharf, the others being built in nearby Churchill Place.
    It will contain 320,000 square feet of office floorspace, most of which has been let to Fitch Ratings and KPMG. The top of the
    building overlooking Canada Square and Churchill Place will feature a double height winter garden. Height is 71m/17 storeys.


  • New Court. Merchant bank Rothschild's new headquarters for the City. 70m/14 storeys. Topped out.

  • Potters Fields. Originally planned as a cluster of 8 towers, the tallest being 69m, this project is now facing a complete redesign
    following massive local opposition.

  • 120 Fenchurch Street. A massive, bulky office development similar to Plantation Place. Originally proposed at 130m+,
    it will now be 69m/14 storeys.

  • Wandsworth Road Development. A new residential midrise for Wandsworth Road, SW8. Height is 65m/21 storeys.

  • 64-74 Mark Lane. New office tower, adjacent to Fenchurch Street station. The sloping glass roof will provide skygarden access
    on a number of floors. Height is 63m/17 storeys.

  • 240 Blackfriars Road. Great Portland Estates are planning a redevelopment of this prominent site on Blackfriars Road,
    with a striking new 15-storey office tower containing 130,000 sq ft of offices with ancillary retail and residential accommodation
    in a separate building. 65m/15 storeys.

  • 72 Fore Street. New office scheme adjacent to Moorgate station. Approved in February 2008. Height is 56m/13 floors.

  • 46 Blackfriars Road. A hotel/office development near Southwark station, next to the old BT building. Reduced in height
    from 80m/20 floors. New height is around 55m/14 floors.

  • 82 West India Dock Road. This hotel will stand to the northwest of the Docklands cluster. 53m/16 storeys.

  • Bezier Apartments. A pair of striking residential towers for Old Street/City Road. Heights are just under 50m.

  • Chambers Wharf. A new Simpson-designed residential scheme to the east of Tower Bridge. The project includes 13 wind turbines.
    There are six buildings. The tallest will be 46m/14 floors.



Large scale regeneration projects


Greenwich Peninsula - Greenwich - £5billion
http://www.greenwichpeninsula.co.uk/
- 190 acres
- 4million sq ft of commercial & retail space
- 10,000 homes



Brent Cross Cricklewood - Barnet - £4.5billion
http://www.brentcrosscricklewood.com/
- 370 acres
- 27,000 jobs
- 7,500 homes



Stratford City - Newham - £4billion
http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/
- 180 acres
- 13.4m sq ft of mixed use
- 5,312 homes



Wood Wharf - Tower Hamlets - £4billion

http://www.woodwharf.com/
- 17.5 acres
- 4.9million sq ft of office space
- 1,688 homes



Battersea Power Station - Wandsworth - £4billion

http://www.battersea-powerstation.com/
- 38 acres
- 8million sq ft of mixed use
- 3,500 homes



Ebbsfleet Valley - Kent - £3billion
http://www.ebbsfleetvalley.co.uk/
- 1,450 acres
- 6.3million sq ft of commercial space
- 9,500 homes



Aylesbury Regeneration - Southwark - £2.5billion
http://www.aylesburyregeneration.org.uk/
- 70 acres
- 4,200 homes



King's Cross Central - Camden & Islington - £2billion
http://www.kingscrosscentral.com/
- 67 acres
- 8 million sq ft of mixed use
- 2000 homes



Elephant & Castle - Southwark - £1.5billion

http://www.elephantandcastle.org.uk/
- 170 acres
- 800,000 sq ft of retail space
- 5,300 homes



Kidbrooke - Greenwich - £1billion
http://www.kidbrookeregeneration.info/
- 270 acres
- 400,000 sq ft of retail space
- 4398 new homes



Chelsea Barracks - Westminster - £1billion
http://thechelseabarracks.co.uk/
- 13 acres
- 638 homes



Lewisham Regeneration - Lewisham
http://www.loampitvale.co.uk/
- 5.6 acres
- 1million sq ft of mixed use
- 800 homes
 
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1
#2 ·
Spending cuts could give Prince Charles bigger say over London's skyline
Mira Bar-Hillel, Property Correspondent Mira Bar-Hillel, Property
29.10.10

Prince Charles could extend his influence over London's skyline after an offer to step into the gap created by the abolition of the Government's design watchdog.

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, set up to advise local councils and developers on design issues, had its £15million annual funding axed in last week's cuts. Staff are being made redundant.

Now the Prince of Wales's Shoreditch-based Foundation for the Built Environment could deliver verdicts on landmark developments and possibly alter designs. The idea has caused concern among modernist architects, previously angered by the Prince's intervention in projects such as the Chelsea Barracks development.

Cabe's opinions were influential but its decisions, while often decisive in multi-million-pound projects, were arrived at in closed "design review" sessions. Announcing the move, Hank Dittmar, the Prince's foundation's chief executive, said: "It is important that design quality does not slip so we are investigating the feasibility of providing design review services for local authorities and developers with the help of our network of architects and other designers. We'd look to recruit a balanced group but, unlike Cabe, wouldn't rule out traditional architects."

Mr Dittmar added: "If other organisations similarly stepped into this niche, it might allow local authorities to choose services that best fit local needs. What's appropriate for East Croydon might not be appropriate for Ealing, and the notion of a body ordained and funded by central government to arbitrate design quality at the national taxpayers' expense has always seemed a curious one to me."

Mr Dittmar, involved in the new traditional scheme for the Chelsea Barracks site, to be submitted to Westminster council in the next few weeks, said architects who backed styles other than modernism were unable to get on Cabe's powerful panels. "What we are proposing might be a positive step forward, bringing costs down, loosening the grip of an architecture elite on planning and design decisions and stimulating debate," he said.

The foundation would not seek public funding but is considering offering design reviews for a fee. It will decide whether to go ahead by Christmas.

Paul Finch, Cabe chairman, said the foundation's interest appeared "predatory", adding it would not be able to serve the wider public interest because of a bias towards traditional forms.

"Stylistic preferences will make it more difficult for certain building types to win planning approval," he said. "The public interest is better served by concentrating on the quality of a piece of architecture rather than style."
 
#3 ·
I updated the status of some of the projects. However I am unsure about many of them. If anyone can let me know the current status of some projects and indicate new projects that need adding to the list, I would be grateful. Thanks.

:)
 
#4 ·
I bet Mira Bar-Hillel couldn't contain the glee as she wrote that article.

Loving the quote'

"What we are proposing might be a positive step forward, bringing costs down, loosening the grip of an architecture elite"

Yes by bringing in HRH pet foundation to oversee design is really not elitist in the slightest.

Hands up if you think the Shard would have got past this design panel. :(
 
#5 ·
RIBA condemns Prince Charles's bid for design review
Building Design
29 October 2010​
Ruth Reed today condemned the Prince’s Foundation for considering bidding to take over Cabe’s design review function.

In a strongly worded statement she said it was “entirely inappropriate” for the foundation to propose itself for a role that demands impartiality.

BD broke the news in this week’s paper that Prince Charles’s architectural charity was considering a plan to fill the gap left by Cabe by carrying out design reviews.

Chief executive Hank Dittmar told BD it would decide by Christmas whether to go ahead with the move.

He acknowledged that its design review panels would have to reflect all stylistic poitions to fend off accusations that only traditional architecture would get the thumbs-up.

“To be credible, it would have to have democratic, independent judgment,” he said. “We would have to have a panel that was balanced and not exclusively traditional architects.”

But the idea was immediately denounced as a “disaster” by Will Alsop who said it would lead to increased “meddling” by Prince Charles.

Today Ruth Reed said: “The Prince’s Foundation is entirely inappropriately placed for a role that demands complete impartiality when making decisions related to the future of the built environment.

“Good design must not be determined nor constrained by arbitrary stylistic preferences, or the notion of what buildings ‘should’ look like; good design is simply about delivering both the client and the public’s needs within budget, in a way that is appropriate to the building’s context.

“It has to take full consideration of the aesthetic, future use and technical ambitions and constraints of the client, site and brief.

“Design review is one of the most important aspects of Cabe’s role, and is a way of helping clients and local communities achieve better buildings.

“The integrity of the process must be maintained, and therefore it should continue to be delivered independently. It is something that the RIBA continues to explore with the government.”
 
#6 ·
As a monarchy sympathiser, I would actually support a republic if this were to happen. Even the very fact that undercurrents are bringing this idea forward makes me nauseous about the true depths of a real elitism (as opposed to someone who is just good at their job) and aristocracy still flowing in this country’s dark recesses.
 
#7 ·
This would be a disaster for London, it would takes us back 150 years, nothing over 30m would get built.
That wazzuck would see to it that only his posh rich friends would get their victorian masions approved, the word Skyscraper would be expunged from the English dictionary:bash::bash:
 
#8 ·
The skyscrapers in London debate is moving decisively in our favour (well done to everyone on this forum!). There are a couple of important developments:

1. There are now several clusters emerging: Canary Wharf, City, London Bridge, South bank and Vauxhall. It’s getting hard to count the number of approved buildings. It will be easier to approve future tall buildings within these clusters. We are reaching a tipping point.

2. There is increasing acceptance and even admiration for tall buildings among the public. Recent newspaper articles have been positive on the whole and no longer refer to Heron Tower and the Shard as “controversial” and no longer to talk about the heritage element.

3. The next mayor of London will most probably be either Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone. One is somewhat pro-skyscraper and the other completely pro-skyscraper

4. The budget of English Heritage is being cut by 32%. I don’t think they will have much money left for their stupid public inquiries.

All in all, it’s looking good!
 
#9 ·
Come friendly developers...
Amanda Baillieu
1 November 2010

So it’s goodbye to the Thames Gateway. Thank goodness. It was a non-area whose name was dreamt up by marketing types for glossy brochures, and to keep armies of consultants in work.

Out of the London section of the Gateway nothing much was built. The list of failed projects is a long one including a scheme to create a Royal Opera House skills academy in Purfleet and dozens of housing schemes that remain in someone’s bottom drawer.

It’s worth reading what Vince Cable said yesterday.

The Thames Gateway has long been recognized as having significant growth potential…but we simply can’t control everything that happens in such a vast area from Whitehall nor should we.

Therefore we are decentralizing its leadership: in future, local government… working with business will unlock the potential of the Thames Gateway.

The key word is ‘working with business’. On the surface this is a good thing but developers won’t bite without huge incentives.

On the other hand investors might be more tempted once agencies like the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation and Design for London are disbanded. Typically, meetings on Gateway projects could involve nine agencies often with conflicting agendas – no wonder nothing got done.

The risk now is that land will be parceled up, sold, and developed but big ideas, like Terry Farrell’s plan for a national park won’t happen. The park seems doomed anyway because there is no funding to get it started. and no one to maintain and manage it even if it did.

So what happens ? Clues to the Gateway’s future might lie in a new ’vision’ for the Royals (the seventy first so don’t hold your breath ) .

Newham council says it wants to see the area become a third business district for London i.e. not many homes and not many local facilities, like schools, either. It bridles at the suggestion that it’ll become a vast business park but that’s the conclusion some people have come to.

Boroughs like Newham now have a new developer friendly face to show to the world. ‘We are open for business’ is its mantra, At the same, time as someone from Newham said to me a few weeks ago - ’in this market we have to be less prescriptive about design’.
 
#10 ·
Great architecture doesn't come cheap
Jonathan Glancey
1 November 2010 13.00 GMT

In some medieval villages, half the annual budget was spent on building the parish church. Now our money goes on ourselves

One New Change One New Change, a new shopping centre designed by architect Jean Nouvelle in the City of London, near to St Paul's Cathedral. Photograph: David Levene

What a fortnight it's been in the world of British architecture. While bullish announcements to the effect that the City of London is back in business raising skyscrapers with funny names, and a giant shopping mall has been opened to the immediate east of St Paul's Cathedral, to largely uncritical acclaim, government cuts have prompted the death of its very own Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (Cabe).

Meanwhile, the Prince's Foundation announced it is ready and willing to take on Cabe's role as the official judge of what's good and bad in the design of new British buildings. The Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) hit back saying "the Prince's Foundation is entirely inappropriately placed for a role which demands complete impartiality". Riba's advocacy of Cabe, a government mouthpiece whose mission, according to last week's Architect's Journal, was to be "pro-development and in favour of the profession", conveniently overlooks the fact that Cabe was not independent and that sometimes the best decision is not to build anything whatsoever on a given site.

Ruth Reed, Riba's president – thinking of Prince Charles's enthusiasm for neo-Georgian design – added "good design must not be determined nor constrained by arbitrary stylistic preferences ... good design is simply about delivering both the client and the public's needs within budget, in a way that is appropriate to the building's context." The idea of "delivering" architecture, however, is often what's wrong with so many new buildings in Britain; architecture should never be "delivered" like supermarket food or junk mail; it should grow from a specific site. Architecture is far more than a deliverable product.

On top of all this, Simon Jenkins wrote a piece in the Guardian tied in with the "50th anniversary of the Victorian Society" – it was founded in 1958 – praising Victorian design and rubbishing most British buildings "erected in Britain between 1940 and 1980" which seem to him to be "bland computer-designed concrete and glass shapes on which no aesthetic eye ever deigned to fall". Computers, in fact, only made a significant inroad into architectural design from 1980, and many fine buildings, as often in brick as concrete, were completed between 1940 and 1980. In any case, there are good and bad buildings of every period, although it is true that there have been notably more bad buildings in Britain since the Industrial Revolution, for even as the national economy has expanded, so we have spread the construction budget ever more thinly.

Here, for me, is the forgotten heart of the issues raised over the past fortnight. Spending on architecture and building (not always the same thing) has fallen in real terms over the past 200 years. Where once buildings were the greatest, proudest and most expensive objects money could buy, today we spend on much else besides. As a society we spend first and foremost on ourselves. We spend on clothes and food, gadgets and landfill-fodder, cars and holidays, on fuel and travel in ways that were once simply impossible. In some medieval villages, a quarter or even half the local annual budget might be spent over long periods on building the parish church. For the most part today, we aim to build as cheaply as possible.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of medieval society – most people lived in hovels – architecture truly mattered: ambitious, beautifully made and finely crafted. Today, we simply can't, or don't want to, afford the price of meticulously wrought buildings. Britain is no longer a productive or a collective society; we are an atomistic nation of individual consumers. We might say we want better buildings, yet evidently, we don't want to pay for them.

More than this, we also really want the very buildings we so often say we despise: all those skyscrapers with funny names that house the banks that lend the money to build the shopping malls and their attendant distribution depots, motorways, supermarkets and edge-of-town housing estates – the architecture of ever-expanding consumption – that neither medieval masters nor the genius of Wren, Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, let alone today's big name architects, could or can do much to improve.

So, how can we expect a quango such as the outgoing Cabe, the Prince's Foundation, the Royal Institute of British Architects or a regard for the Victorians to make our buildings better than they are, when what we really want, as we thrash around with personal likes and dislikes, is an all-consuming society housed in buildings largely antithetical by their very nature to long-established and commonly held notions of "good design"?
 
#12 ·
Well we did masterplan our new towns! The problem is no one seems to want to lay down a 40 year plan where a town will grow and show where each street will grow. All too often it has been 15 housing plans that designates a field here and there. No opportunity to develop a proper integrated town plan. Its been, here shall sit 500 new houses a group of developers come back with a new loop road with cul de sacs.

Some of the newer developments are better, but the best ones are usually the biggest where they have 10 to 20 years of housing land.
 
#13 ·
Although those masterplans were horrible anti-urban and grew from the Garden City movement in this country with a heavy dose of Modernist ideas about travel and segregation of use. Would be nice to put our knowledge gleaned over the last 50 years into practical use on the scale of the Thames Gateway.
 
#15 ·
Say goodbye to The London Development Agency
Kieran Long Kieran Long
03.11.10

A city such as London needs teams of experts who know how to get things done. On Friday, we lost one of these.

The London Development Agency — for which I have acted as a consultant in the past — is a body that was set up to encourage the economic development of the city by funding promotional and regeneration projects. You're justified in asking what Visit London or the British Fashion Council, both of which the LDA funds, ever did for you — they were always likely to become victims of the current series of cuts.

But in order for the Government to save the LDA's £156 million annual budget, it has also sacrificed a body that has helped to fund much of what has been good in London architecture and public space in the past decade or so. With it will go some of the only public-sector expertise that London has in making decent places and transforming parts of the city that really need attention.

The implications of this decision will be clearer more in terms of what does not happen than what does. The LDA has been responsible for the messy work of planning and building for London's growing population.

The regeneration of many areas of the capital has hinged on a slice of the LDA's budget, and the roll-call of the schemes with design excellence at their heart is impressive — such as Acton market square, Brixton's high street and new public square, Woolwich town centre, Thames Barrier Park, plus projects in Sutton, Whitechapel Road, Aldgate, Barking, Dalston and many more. The end of the LDA's budget means the end of this genre of projects.

Employees at the agency are now wondering which of them will be out the door first. Its staff of 324 will be reduced to 108 by March next year, with an “orderly closure” by March 2012. Some contracts will have to be broken, and boroughs will also be waiting with bated breath to find out which of their projects will be completed before the LDA is finally wound up.

And the replacement for this well-funded, multi-skilled group of investment experts, design and urban champions? There isn't one. Boris Johnson has been caught on the hop by the decision to abolish the LDA completely, and no one in London government can say for sure whether there will be any kind of team at City Hall influencing London's development and shaping urban plans, buildings and public spaces worthy of
a global city. It's a strange kind of localism that sees Whitehall cutting the Mayor's resources and expertise in developing his own city.

So besides being a regeneration body taking on the parts of London that would never have been attractive to the private sector, what has the LDA ever done for you? First, there are the huge projects that a world city needs to be able to deliver quickly and efficiently. The most impressive thing about the Olympics, for instance, is that the site was able to be built on at all — a piece of unusable land on low-value real estate in the Lea Valley. The LDA had the scale and expertise to buy the land, decontaminate it, relocate the businesses on the site, and do all this in a lightning-fast time frame.

The list goes on: Wembley would never have been built without the LDA and the Laban Centre in Deptford would not have happened, Ravensbourne college's building at North Greenwich would have been impossible. And these are just the high-profile examples.

At the other end of the scale, there is the work that the LDA does through Design for London, its 18-strong urban design team, which operates on an impressively tiny budget of £1.5 illion. This work includes the Olympic Fringe masterplans, for instance, which are perhaps the best hope that there will be some lasting legacy that means something to local people in the area. These are now at risk of being cancelled.

Design for London amounts to the most important city architects' department in the country, which could be an enabling force for the new localist planning agenda. But its skills and expertise are about to be scattered to the winds.

The rising panic over the future of London regeneration is more than frustrating for those who care about London's built environment. But it also calls into question how localism will manifest itself on the ground.

Most local authority planners I have spoken to expect their staffs to decrease. The support and advice that they were able to get from Design for London will disappear. As councils are expected to deliver projects which meaningfully involve local people, they will call for help and find there is no one to answer them. Larger projects — such as the LDA-funded work on London Thames Gateway Heat Network, a sustainable hot water system planned to serve 120,000 homes — are not going to be spontaneously invented by private-sector developers either. They take strategic thinking, and seed funding, from the public sector to become a reality.

There is a strong case for reform: thinking about London's architectural and urban future has been fragmented between City Hall, the LDA and the boroughs for far too long. But the LDA, for all its faults, was a body that believed in strategic thinking at the scale of the city, and in Design for London had a group of design-led individuals who promoted a dignified public realm for all Londoners. The Mayor should cut all the nonsense to do with business promotion and training — there should be a single, unified urban design office within City Hall that can support the boroughs in making long-term plans. And it should be made up of dynamic and design-conscious individuals from Design for London, not paper pushers with no design ability. London must find a place in its administration for the people who know what they are doing when it comes to making a decent city, and a budget to empower them.
 
#21 ·
Double Dip Lurks Behind London's New Skyscrapers
Bloomberg
4 November 2010​
Mark Gilbert

If hemlines tell which way the stock market is headed, maybe city skylines do the same for the economy, in reverse. Tall stories often have unhappy endings.

British Land Co., the U.K.’s second-largest real-estate investment trust, has revived plans for a 47-story tower in the City of London dubbed the “Cheesegrater.” Land Securities Group Plc, its bigger rival, has found backers for its “Walkie- Talkie” building, which will be 10 floors shorter. Next to London Bridge, cranes are slapping glass panels onto the soaring frame of the “Shard of Glass,” architect Renzo Piano’s 1,000- foot (305-meter) pyramid that will dwarf the other buildings north of the River Thames to become Britain’s tallest edifice.

The history of London landmarks suggests vertical ambitions typically presage a southerly direction for the economy. From the Post Office Tower in the 1960s to the NatWest Tower in the 1980s and the Canary Wharf Tower in the 1990s, each was the tallest London building of its day, and all were harbingers of tougher times.

In mid-2004, the U.K. was enjoying its 48th consecutive quarter of gross-domestic-product growth. In the middle of London, Swiss Reinsurance Co. was moving into a 40-story edifice called the “Erotic Gherkin” for its resemblance to a swollen pickled cucumber. Four years later, the British economy contracted 0.3 percent as it started to sink into a recession, and continued to shrink for the following five quarters.

Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf Tower stuck its head in the clouds in 1990 to become the U.K.’s tallest structure at 800 feet and 50 floors. The economy grew in every quarter in the second half of the 1980s except one, averaging an expansion rate of 0.9 percent. U.K. house prices increased 1.2 percent a month on average, according to an index compiled by HBOS Plc, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender. They rose 3 percent or more for much of 1988 and peaked with a gain of 4.3 percent in July of that year.

Once Canary Wharf was completed, the economy shrank in five of the next eight quarters. Average quarterly growth from 1990 to 1995 was 0.4 percent, half the performance achieved in the previous half-decade. The housing market stumbled, posting an average monthly decline of 1 percent for five years that drove many householders into “negative equity,” owing more on their mortgage than their homes were worth. Unemployment soared from 6.9 percent in early 1990 to 10.4 percent by December 1992.

NatWest Tower

Before Canary Wharf, London’s tallest building was the NatWest Tower, at 600 feet. National Westminster Bank Plc, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, opened the first City skyscraper in the early 1980s. In the five preceding years, the U.K. had avoided a recession, measured as two consecutive quarters of contraction, and had posted an average growth rate of 0.5 percent for the period.

The NatWest Tower’s opening coincided with a slump. The economy contracted for five consecutive quarters from the beginning of 1980. Its average growth rate in the first five years of the 1980s was just 0.4 percent. Unemployment, which averaged 5.25 percent in the second half of the 1970s, shot up to 8 percent by the end of 1980, reached 10 percent the following year and peaked at 11.9 percent in 1984.

The building is now named Tower 42. If you look west from the top floor’s aptly named Vertigo bar, you can see the Post Office Tower, the previous record holder.

Post Office Tower

At 580 feet, excluding a 40-feet aerial, the Post Office Tower started beaming radio and television signals in 1964. Three years later, the government was forced to devalue the pound to $2.40 from $2.80. The economy’s average quarterly growth rate from 1960 to 1965 was 0.8 percent; it dropped to 0.5 percent in the two years following the Post Office Tower’s opening, and was 0.7 percent in the five years through 1970.

Now, some economists are concerned government spending cuts will push the U.K. back into a recession. Last week, Land Securities opened the City’s biggest mall, with 220,000 square feet of retail space fighting for customers -- just eight days after Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne detailed more than 80 billion pounds ($128 billion) of spending cuts and 490,000 public-sector job losses.

London isn’t alone. The Great Depression was the backdrop to both New York’s Chrysler Building -- completed in 1930 after real-estate developer William Reynolds ran out of funds and sold the uncompleted building to industrialist Walter Chrysler -- and the Empire State building, completed in 1931.

In Dubai, the $1.5 billion Burj Khalifa building now holds the title of the world’s tallest; its name was changed from Burj Dubai when it opened in January in honor of Abu Dhabi leader Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. This was a month after Dubai needed a $10 billion lifeline to avoid default.

Real-estate developers might want to consider the lessons of history before letting their lofty ambitions get the better of their reduced circumstances.

(Mark Gilbert, author of “Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable,” is the London bureau chief and a columnist for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)
 
#22 ·
Deary me. How often do journalists want to dig out the " A tall building was built just before the fall" story.

Funny how there is no mention of the massive growth at CW with both HSBC & Citicorp built between 99 & 2002. Oh yes because it ruins the narrative of the lazy story.
 
#23 ·
Exactly. There's also no rationality or reason explained into why the world tallest buildings get built just before/after economic free-falls. Like with 40 WS, Chrysler and ESB in the 1930s skyscraper projects require an extended period of prosperity and market confidence to encourage developer risk and entice investors (and of course market confidence is always at its highest just before a fall), then a substantial construction period. Thus in the boom and bust cycles of capitalism a substantial number of them inevitably are going to be completed in a recession.
 
#24 ·
Surely as long as we keep building ever taller buildings on a regular basis there will always be a worlds tallest completed just before a recession?

How many times has the height record been beaten during boomtimes? I dont think Petronas or Teipei 101 coincided with a slump.
 
#25 ·
Petronas reached completion one year after the 1997 asian economic crisis.

Taipei 101 started just after.

Anyway these new towers still mark the crisis, they are still are a product of the last boom but as they represent so much money in planning and land purchase. They are just shuddering back into life as the we come out of recession.

The main difference this time compared to the 1990's crash is that commercial property was not particularly overbuilt, especially in the City. So instead of waiting four or five years for space to be filled there is not much that left empty. Docklands on the other hand! If it was not for its ability to accommodate really large new buildings I see no need for any new construction for 4 years. Unless the city re-inflates to its old size really quickly. I suggest that Canary Wharf try and get some West End occupiers, except that Victoria may be on the hunt for some of those with some expected consolidation of government departments. Victoria has done better in attracting West End tenants in the past, particularly oil and media.
 
#28 ·
King Street revamp cannot go ahead without tower blocks, says report

-- Link to Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle article --

Contentious plans to build two 14-storey tower blocks in Hammersmith cannot be scaled down without putting a town centre regeneration project at risk, a report claimed this week. Consultants Price Waterhouse Coopers issued the advice after being commissioned Hammersmith and Fulham Council, which hopes to convince critics to get behind its King Street scheme.

A planning application was submitted at the end of last week from King Street Developments, which won a council-run competition to redesign the area around Hammersmith Town Hall.

It wants to knock down the town hall extension and create a new public square in its place, flanked by new buildings containing new council offices shops and cafés, a supermarket and around 320 luxury flats. The Cineworld cinema would also be pulled down along with a row of terraced homes and a Quaker meeting house, and a new pedestrian footbridge would be created over the A4, linking King Street to Furnivall Gardens and the Thames.

Council leader Stephen Greenhalgh has written to resident groups urging them to get behind the plans and setting out the reasons why the town hall extension must be replaced.

He said: "If the scheme does progress, the council will not be spending one penny on the development. However, if the scheme does not go ahead there will be costs. This is because the town hall extension has come to the end of its life and needs to either be demolished or extensively refurbished. If the project does not go ahead taxpayers will need to spend around £18m to move council staff temporarily while the extension is brought up to standard."

The report by Price Waterhouse Coopers said the developer is using a 'reasonable approach' with projected returns which appear 'lower than those that we would typically expect for a project of this type'. It said: "Any reduction in the enabling elements of the scheme would worsen project viability and could potentially make it undeliverable."

Hundreds of residents who have come together to oppose the scheme under the Save Our Skyline (SOS) banner are this week waiting to pore over the planning documents once they are released to the public. Another SOS meeting will be called in early December encouraging people to send their written objections to the council, which will now have to launch a public consultation and act as an independent planning authority despite having commissioned the project.

Chairman John Jones said the group remains concerned about the size of the towers, the lack of any affordable housing, the nature of the footbridge, the loss of the cinema and the impact of a new supermarket on surrounding businesses and congestion, and estimates the land being handed over by the council is worth around £50m.

He said: "All the council is getting out of this is some more office accommodation that it doesn't need, which is not a very happy bargain for the rate payers of Hammersmith. The town hall extension needs refurbishing, but there's nothing wrong with it structurally. If they need more space they can extend it downwards into the void space below."

David Walters, of King Street Developments, said the development would ensure that Hammersmith Town Hall 'remains at the heart of the borough's civic life'. He said: "We are aware that there are people who have concerns about certain aspects of the plans, but we believe that this is the only way of unlocking this site to deliver a scheme which can benefit local residents and business for decades to come."
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Controversial King Street scheme goes in for planning

-- Link to www.building.co.uk article --




Helical Bar and Grainger have submitted a planning application for the extension of Hammersmith Town Hall and the development of 320 homes, shops, cafes and restaurants.

The controversial scheme, designed by Sheppard Robson Architects, will involve the demolition of the existing 1960s town hall extension on King Street and will see a pedestrian footbridge created across the A4, linking the development with the river Thames.

David Walters, of Helical and Grainger’s joint venture King Street Developments, said: “The regeneration will also ensure that Hammersmith Town Hall remains at the heart of the Borough’s civic life. We are aware that there are people who have concerns about certain aspects of the plans, but we believe that this is the only way of unlocking this site to deliver a scheme which can benefit local residents and business for decades to come, securing the future of King Street.”

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham will now hold its own statutory consultation exercise on the planning application before it is considered by the Council’s planning committee in 2011. The scheme has met with local opposition because of the inclusion of a 14-storey tower in the plans.
 
#31 ·
Hampstead fury over £100m 'LA palace' for billionaire
Will Hurst
09.11.10

A Kuwaiti billionaire's plan to build a £100 million home overlooking Hampstead Heath has caused outrage among residents.

The scheme by Robert Adam, one of Prince Charles's favourite architects, to build a 50,000 sq ft neo-classical house for Naseer Al-Kharafi has been described as a "cross between a Stalinist palace and a Victorian lunatic asylum".



Objectors include Terry Jones, the former Monty Python star, Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm, actor Tim Pigott-Smith and Wesley Kerr, the former BBC journalist who now heads the Heritage Lottery Fund's London committee.

Kerr said the design was "more in keeping with Monaco or LA". Opponents are upset at the proposal to demolish the existing Victorian mansion on the site, Athlone House, and will make their case at a planning inquiry due next year following Camden council's rejection of the plans in April.



Jones, who lives a stone's throw from the heath, accused his new neighbour and his architect of ignoring an earlier planning agreement to restore the original house dating from 1871. "I don't think they should get away with it," he said.

"The new house is the same thing but bigger and therefore not at all the same thing. My point is that if they agreed to certain conditions then they shouldn't be allowed to change them."

Hobsbawm, 93, claimed the building represents a threat to the character of Hampstead Heath. In a letter to the local authority, he said he was objecting on "behalf of all Londoners and foreign tourists for whom" the heath is an "invaluable, source of pleasure and enjoyment".

Pigott-Smith said the plan was the latest in a string of schemes from super-rich newcomers from abroad. "There is massive money coming in," he said. Adam told Building Design magazine he was stunned by the "unbelievable passions" his design had aroused. "People may or may not like the design but this is an example of things getting completely out of perspective," he said.

Married with five children, Mr Kharafi has a reported net worth of $14 billion. Head of a huge conglomerate, he is the 48th richest man in the world. Last year he was said to be involved in a bid to buy Liverpool Football Club.
 
#33 ·
They're both nice houses. It's a shame they can't leave the old house in situ, and find some modernist lump of concrete somewhere which they can demolish to make way for the new design.
 
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