LONDON | The Leadenhall Building | 225m | 48 fl | U/C

[timo]

Excellent news, this is one of my favourites!!

Whats the point of comments like this though:

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

This represents "middle finger up" at the people who say London isn't building anything

[wjfox]

It was meant to be lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek -- note my use of the "grin" smiley -- but surprise surprise, as usual people are taking me too seriously...

[wjfox]

Anyway, here's a couple more renderings.

The view from Fleet Street:







And the view from Bishopsgate:

[timo]

whatever

good skyscraper anyway

[DarJoLe]

That view from Bishopsgate will be obscured by Heron and Heron Plaza.

But still looks fantastic!

Excellent news for next year as well. Bringing the schedule forward obviously shows confidence is returning to the market and the beginning of the crest of the wave for construction of skyscrapers in London.

[zee]

i dont really like the design of this building...i reckon something spectacular should be made to make a true statement

[wjfox]

Originally Posted by zeeshanney

i dont really like the design of this building...

But why ever not? What is there not to like about this building?

It has everything - superb design, height, shape, cladding, colours, base, location...

Originally Posted by zeeshanney

i reckon something spectacular should be made to make a true statement

This building will make a statement alright - an incredibly bold and daring architectural statement that will transform London's skyline, just as SwissRe did a couple of years ago. The incredibly futuristic design makes it look like something from the 23rd century! Combined with its height and prominent location, this building will really catch peoples' attention.

Sorry, but I think you'd have to be in a very small minority not to like this proposal.

[Jack Rabbit Slim]

then you've also got quite a few more towers at CW looking to get approval like Riverside South, North Quay tower 1, North Quay tower 2, Heron Quays West....

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

They've already been approved.

Have they?? Do they have a construction start date?? What exactly is preventing them going up?? I'm pretty sure I've been on threads that have explained it, but I lose track of how all the skyscraper proposals in London are progressing

[Jack Rabbit Slim]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

That's a great image to show the clear height references of buildings in the square mile. Is there one that includes Bishopsgate tower as well?

[vvill]

i don't like the design. i think it'll be far better if the slant is much steeper. now the base is just too wide... and the building looks so bulky. i don't think it gives much respect to the surrounding either... like.. the swiss re stands out nice on its own but with the addition of this, i'm not sure anymore.

i mean it's a common architectural sense that when you have something of an unusual shape (say the swiss re) it'd make most sense to put something rather simple yet nicely detailed next to it to accompany it or it'll just be a mere competition between the two... (like the wtc + world financial centre; bank of china + cheung kong centre or even in london... the albion riverside and the affordable housing next to it)

[pimvdh]

The design don't has a good sheap and it don't fit on that place

[SEED]

i like the design of this building! very hightech! briliant! whos the architect of this cool babe? Rogers?

[Mosaic]

Whoa!!! really fantastic design. I like it.

[dom]

I'm delighted that this building will be built. Richard Rogers is the high-tech architect par excellance. I believe that this will be his crowning glory and one of the best skyscrapers anywhere when complete. It looks so... what can I say... right... appropriate.

The architectural dialogue between this, Lloyds of London, 51 Lime Street, the modernist Aviva Plaza, the Swiss Re Tower and the 500 year old St Andrews church wholeheartedly encapsulates the 'new' London. I can't wait until this one is finished. Here's to world class architecture in London!

[Mosaic]

I can't wait to see it done.

[Skyman]

looks good

[DarJoLe]

It's shape isn't simply the architect saying 'ooh we've done curvy not let's do a wedge' - it's that shape for a reason, to sweep back from St Paul's Cathedral on the view from Fleet Street, a protected view of the Cathedral. It reduces its bulk on the skyline from Waterloo Bridge by tapering back to the pinnacle yet produces a dramatic sight from ground level. The design works, and will be a fantastic pinnacle to the City of London's skyline until the Bishopsgate Tower appears.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by Jack Rabbit Slim

Have they?? Do they have a construction start date?? What exactly is preventing them going up??

Lack of tenants. Skyscrapers in London only go up if a major tenant signs up for renting the space. Broadgate Tower and Heron Tower are to be built speculatively, meaning that the developer has confidence a tenant can be found whilst construction is underway, although this can backfire as it did with One Canada Square in the early 1990s, losing the developer millions.

The good news is office take-up in London is increasing daily, and we are now at the crest of a wave and will see a lot of new office space needed in the next five years. And, because of the long planning process for skyscrapers in London, as soon as deals are signed many of the towers proposed for London we have known about all these years can start pretty much immediately.

[london lad]

Originally Posted by Jack Rabbit Slim

then you've also got quite a few more towers at CW looking to get approval like Riverside South, North Quay tower 1, North Quay tower 2, Heron Quays West....

Have they?? Do they have a construction start date?? What exactly is preventing them going up?? I'm pretty sure I've been on threads that have explained it, but I lose track of how all the skyscraper proposals in London are progressing

RS has planning approval, NQ 1&2 haven't got planning approval yet as they haven't proved a number of issues the Mayor brought up but they will be resolved & HQ West is just a concept that hasn't been put into planning yet.NQ also has a potential delay as Crossrail ( a proposed new underground link will pass near the site & the site might be needed for site excavation etc)

They are all part of the canary wharf estate & songbird (owners of the estate) have a development programme which at the moment is filling the mid-rise groundscrapers around the barclalys tower at churchill place. They have planning permsion for the RS,NQ towers now so they can start as & when demand grows as the sites are clear. Once the Groundscrapers at churchill place are built & fully let then the next step in there programme will be these towers.

check out there website to give some indication of the size of there portfolio & the CW estate in general

http://www.canarywharfoffices.com/

[vvill]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

It's shape isn't simply the architect saying 'ooh we've done curvy not let's do a wedge' - it's that shape for a reason, to sweep back from St Paul's Cathedral on the view from Fleet Street, a protected view of the Cathedral. It reduces its bulk on the skyline from Waterloo Bridge by tapering back to the pinnacle yet produces a dramatic sight from ground level. The design works, and will be a fantastic pinnacle to the City of London's skyline until the Bishopsgate Tower appears.

obviosuly i know. but just by looking at those collages up there, it's quite unconvincing to me that the building does respond well to its surrounding. the one from bishopsgate looks particularly crude in my opinion. maybe it's really designed for that reason you mentioned but how many people everyday will actually be looking at the building that way? it's gotta be really really powerful if that's the case.

and i don't think richard rogers' designs have ever been famous for their sensitivities to their surroundings and especially this one which seems to be far too prominent of a statement. i mean, if you compare this to renzo's london bridge tower... how nice that one is!