Late 2001 - Mid 2002. Email -

EXCLUSIVE - Well we've seen the plates for North Quay formerly known as Shed35 and a whole map for Canary Wharf that hasn't been officially released for public consumption. North Quay incase you didnt know is set to contain some 3.5million square feet of office space and the site already has planning permission for a building set at a maximum of 541ft. The plans for the estate show two buildings on the site, the Western tower is set to be a tower with a lower section in the mould of the citigroup headquarters whilst the Eastern tower will be standalone. Given the amount of floorspace they have planned the two towers will be between 650-850ft tall, something already confirmed by the chairman of Canary Wharf PLC who says they will be "very tall". You can see from the model, the two North Quay towers to the left of the map set on the floor plates and the size is impressive to say the least - they'll only add more to the density of the Wharf which is set to have almost as many 500footers as Atlanta by 2004.
The map also contains plenty of other useful hints as to where Canary Wharf will be building next. There is a yellow portion directly to the west of the current Heron Quays development which says - future development. Canary Wharf don't yet own this site but obviously they have plans to expand Heron Quays as much as possible assuming they can aquire the land.
The rumour mill meanwhile is talking about Deustche Bank, who have become a regular whenever a new skyscraper is mentioned. Having been linked to buildings in the city we've been told they are looking at Canary Wharf now. Given that they are obligated to check out all the possible options it's logical they would look at the Wharf as a possible location, however it doesn't mean they are moving there - my money is on them staying in the city and taking up one of the current 200m giants in pre-planning.

The Swiss Re Headquarters has taken another step towards completion with the cladding starting. The tower is currently some 14-15 floors tall, perhaps a third of the height it will be when completed, and it's finally starting to make an impact on the skyline. The building meanwhile has been renamed 30 Saint Mary Axe, though quite why Saint Mary would have an axe is yet to be explained. Designed by Norman Foster, Swiss Re is the first skyscraper to be built in the city since Tower 42, formerly the Natwest Tower was completed in 1979. With a revolutionary ecological design including spiralling atriums, London is getting one of the most revolutionary buildings of the 21st century.

Paddington has taken a step closer to becoming a skyscraper cluster in it's own right with the approval of the Richard Rogers designed Grand Union Building. The original building ran into much opposition from the Royal Parks Authority and Westminster Council but after going back to the drawing board a compromise has been worked out that is satisfying all the parties involved. Set to be approx 135m tall, or 157 to spire this is the first of two skyscrapers proposed for the regeneration project around the station to go ahead, and despite being shorter than the original proposal contains much more floor space.

The planned residential skyscraper for St George's Wharf in Vauxhall has taken a step forwards with interim approval from the GLA planning board who have cautiously welcome the design. It's another in what has become a flood of proposals for 'ecological' buildings, at almost 600ft tall with a facade completely of glass, it'll have a wind turbine set on the top of it to generate half of the building's power. The tower will be difficult to oppose by heritage bodies as although it is close to the Houses of Parliament it will be set behind the Millbank Tower which should substantially lessen it's impact. Whether m.ps want to see the tip of it as they are having their tea remains to be seen.

Bridgewater Place, Leeds first ever skyscraper has been given approval and groundbreaking looks set to start anyday now. At 30floors and 115m tall it will completely dominate the northern city who's current tallest building is a mere 80m. There have been persistent rumours about another 8floors being added to the building which would bring it's height over the magic 500ft mark but these remain rumours.

The regeneration of Birmingham looks set to continue with this fantastic development of the city's eastside. A number of towers are planned for later phases of development including a mini cluster on Masshouse Circus of several buildings in the region of 20 to 30 storeys. Also a residential garden tower of 25 storeys is mentioned on the developers website: www.east-side.co.uk
The scheme is intended to open up the city's east side now that the 'concrete collar', the inner ring road that once acted like a wall around the city centre, has been flattened.
The project is intended to create a 150,000m2 mixed use development. 65,000 of office space with 555 residential units. The cost is projected at around £900m. In one corner of the site will be a landmark observation tower set to be Birmingham's tallest building.

Bad news, the Lots Road Power station developmet of two residential towers of 39 and 25 storeys, designed by Terry Farrel and Partners, has been rejected by Kensington, and Chelsea and Hammersmith Councils. Their objections were on the grounds that the towers would, wait for it, 'be harmful to the skyline', 'effect conservation areas and open spaces' and would cause congestion through too many people gathering in one place'...how original. It's important to remember that English Heritage themselves support this particular project

Croydon has recently unveiled a very ambitious scheme to transform its centre with a massive redevelopment of residential towers. If the project gets the go-ahead, Croydon could see 3 massive new towers, one of 60 storeys at 800ft and two others at 40 storeys. The development would bring a £500m of investment into the town and transform its skyline. No designs have been finalised yet, the town planners have simply zoned an area for maximum heights and are now inviting archietects and property developers to submit proposals for the scheme. Given the lack of romance that Croydon holds in the business world it's unlikely that the tower will get built at the maximum possible height.
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone approves of such suburban developmets saying that 'the right sort of towers could add value and dynamism to Londons skyline'. English Heritage also agrees, but adds that their location will have to be away from historically sensitive areas so presumably Croydon with it's historically sensitive brutalist skyline will be protected for future generations to enjoy just as we do today.

The £1.5bn Elephant and Castle development has been thrown into doubt after the major developmet partner, South Land Regeneration pulled out of the development yesterday. Without this commitment the project will have to be either indefinitely postponed or abandoned altogether. Hopefully another partner will be found to bail out the scheme?

Minerva is also close to submitting its final application for its St. Bolthop House tower on the east of the City of London. The tower has been designed by Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners to be the City's largest office building at 36 storeys and 1m sq ft (110,000m2). This whopper will be a stunning 100m at it's widest point so despite it's relative lack of height compared to it's neighbours it will dominate the skyline. Designed to appear differently from each side it will include a futuristic open air restaurant on the roof. Given it's location approval looks more than likely but things are never quite so simple in the City of London.

Fosters and Partners have released the designs for a new proposal in the City of London next to the Lloyds Building on Lime Street. Known otherwise as the 58 Building it'll have 700,000 square feet of floorspace and 25floors topping out at 130m, not a major skyscraper by any means but still a nice addition to the skyline but with it being prelet and thanks to its location in the center of a cluster it looks very likely in getting built.

British Land are also preparing plans to build a skyscraper next to the 58 Building on 122 Leadenhall Street that will totally dwarf Limestreet. Details haven't been released yet but it's going to be big, very big.

The Commission for Archietecture and Built Environment (CABE) have announced the findings for their study of London Bridge Tower and have come out in favour of it. They are broadly supportive of the project that they recognise as revolutionary except for a few minor modifications at ground level. The only opponents of the tower now are you guessed it, English Heritage who complain that it is visible from the Tower of London if you stand in a disused courtyard.
The tower itself as these latest renderings show fits in remarkably well with its surroundings despite a planned height of 1016ft, even at ground level it fails to dominate the area like a smaller building such as Centerpoint does. You can also see an as yet unpublished rendering of the tower in context of the whole Southbank skyline, and it looks fabulous. The only question is why no-one thought of this revolutionary design before.

EXCLUSIVE - We have the renderings for Paddington Station Tower which until recently has been a blank space on the masterplan. Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw Partners, its set to be 25floors tall to conform with the objections from Westminster Council. Sadly the design is uninspired compared to the original and looks rather stumpy whilst glass lifts on the outside are so 80s. When topped out the tower should be 110m tall, somewhat disappointing when you compare it to the original.

EXCLUSIVE - Marks and Barfield's masterpiece Skyhouse looks like it has found a location. As you might have read on these pages the tower height has been reduced to 50floors as the illustrations here show, which by our calculation makes it a grand total of 211.8 m tall. Our source who met them last year tells us that the site is to be located in the Thames Gateway on brownfield land and negotiations are currently going on about purchasing it, meanwhile a contract has been signed for the engineering of the structure so hopefully ground breaking can begin by the end of the year.

EXCLUSIVE - Things have been going mad at Docklands lately as you might have known. CWG still insist that BP1 will be 150m despite sources telling us they are trying to get the building increased in height. Canary Wharf have been playing this game for sometime where they announce the heights of buildings and then the buildings have grown by the time they are finished. The latest plans for these are North Quay (Shed 35) which we are told will have disappointing size to start with but be increased in height whilst covered with scaffolding so no-one notices. The final plan as with BP1 is not to be revealed until construction is well underway so the planning people and the clients don't realise what whoppers CWG are actually building.

EXCLUSIVE - Legal battles have slowed down construction of the Millenium Quarter in Docklands but perhaps there is another reason for this. A source within the industry told us of the confidential plans that the Canary Wharf Group have to buy out the developers there once the transport links have been upgraded and to start expanding their estate south of Heron Quays. Perhaps it is not litigation which is slowing it down afterall but other companies playing wait and see, either way with plans to expand aggresively into neighbouring areas this can only be good for what is becoming Europes leading skyscraper district.

Canary Wharf have also confirmed our story from several months back on Richard Rogers planning two towers for Riverside South. Apart from that, they deny everything as usual.

Bad news for Bristol - Project 360 has been seriously scaled down after the city council have decided that a 500ft skyscraper represents a major terrorist target. Obviously Bristol with its oppresive foriegn policy has been selected by Bin Laden's men and the planners have advance warning. The revised project will now be 360ft in height, just like the project title.

Renderings (right) have been released of the new Barclays Building in Canary Wharf formerly known as BP1. Set to be 34 floors of office space plus three floors of basements and plant areas, the building will be approximately 550ft from ground height making it the seventh 500footer in the Wharf and giving London more 500footers than any other city in Europe. Meanwhile the height of HQ5 has been revised upwards with a total from 494ft to 525ft.

Wembley Stadium looks like getting the goahead. Set to be the worlds tallest stadium at 436ft. Despite the government not having officially released the winner of what will be England's national stadium due to fairness of the bidding process but it's understood that due to the Picket Lock fiasco it has become politically untenable for the current stadium to lay unused and rot away whilst failure to award the stadium to the Wembley site will bankrup the English Football Association who have already spent money given to them by the National Lottery Commission to buy the grounds. Barclays have offered the F.A financing to be able to complete the project which will have a total budget of 700million pounds. The original design by Norman Foster is set to be built unchanged complete with its victory arch but in order for the project to get the goahead the proposed tower block and hotel next to it have been shelved for present.

The Millenium Dome site has been sold to the Meridian Delta Corporation who have proposals for two thirty one floor office towers on the site as well as a huge amount of housing. Rumour has it that their highrise ambitions may be increased following the successes at Canary Wharf, only one stop down on the Jubilee Line.

I used to be greeted by the sight of this ugly building every time I walked down Putney Highstreet but now thankfully the Empress State Building in Earl's Court is set to get a makeover thanks to Wilkinson Eyre. Formerly occupied by the British Secret Service the building has been empty since they moved to Embankment but now a further three floors are being added to the building plus an observation deck tipped with spire on the top. In addition the building is being reclad to make its grey concrete appearance more elegant. It's height will grow from the current 330ft to 385ft to the new roof.

Bad news for Birmingham following the 11th of September attack it appears that Arena Central has been called in by the local council who are concerned about its height. The word has it that they want to reduce the tower by at least ten floors and perhaps by as much as twenty five from its current fifty. This casts doubt on the development on the tower as it may not be economically viable with substantially less space.

The Paddington developments continue with the entire plan for the area being released except for the Railtrack Building which is just a blank space on the masterplan. It's understood that they are holding this building design back until they have the results of the Heron enquiry but its understood this building will be 32floors too, which is the maximum allowable by height. It's wise to remember that with Railtrack's current financial problems this project may be put on hold for now. Anyway, there are a whopping eight sites to be built on though and they say this is the biggest building project in London since the 1960s. Thanks to Deano for this.

The Heron Inquiry is drawing to a close this week and it looks like it has been nothing short of a total disaster for English Heritage who have seen their case collapse around them. Given they have no grounds to oppose the Heron Tower on except it takes up a bit of sky next to St Pauls it seems they picked the wrong fight for opposing skyscrapers and the building will get the goahead.
Infact given the current situation where there are so many developments proposed for the City it is almost unthinkable that it won't get the goahead. The fact is that the Heron Tower has started an avalanche of proposals for buildings as regular reader of this site might have noticed. Many of these buildings should have been built in the 80s and now many billions of pounds of investment for London hinge on this decision.
It's the most important event for Skyscrapers since Centerpoint and the scandal it caused in the seventies put the public off tall buildings, time though is a great healer and we expect a thumbs-up.

Helmut Jahn has designed a skyscraper of 820ft for the city. This building will shift the visual center further to the east and provide a new focal point for the skyline away from St Pauls Cathedral. It was originally set to be a much shorter building but the developers are confident that the Heron Tower will get approval so they actually increased the height. The tower will be located somewhere between the current Swiss Re building site and the planned St Botolph's House. It looks like things are getting very exciting for London.

The future of the Meridan Towers planned for the Greenwich Peninsula have been called doubt after the Lord of Westminster's company, Grosvener Properties has pulled out of the project. Unless the developers consortium can bring in someone else to replace the lost financing it seems the project will be cancelled.

Vauxhall in London is the scene of secret plans by St. George to build a fifty storey tower. It appears that CABE have already given their approval to the scheme as has the London Mayor Ken Livingstone and the local council. The site is at the edge of St George's Wharf and it appears that the developers are determined to get the go-ahead making the tower as environmentally concious as possible. With the backing they have already it looks like it might actually be likely.

Hounslow in London has seen a planning application being submitted for a 33floor circular tower topped by ariels reaching 120m with 300,000square feet of floor space. The tower is mooted as part of an 800,000ft commercial development and will be located next to British Standards House, an existing but ugly tall building. It's obvious from the planning application the new tower has been designed to complement its neighbour.

Newcastle looks like it might soon be having its first new high-rise building in a longtime. Wimpey are planning a residential tower of thirty floors overlooking the Tyne which should make it well over 300ft. The tower is planned for the eastern end of Quayside and will hopefully be finished by 2003 if the developers get their way.

The Praed Street area is now well under way, the next site alongside the Westway A40 is also coming along with 2 11 storey building being topped a couple of weeks ago. The Paddington Station project (railtrack) has also been redesign with a lower building. The original railtrack building was the same height as the Grand Union again came with opposition from Westminster and the Royal Parks.Now we have details of the new Grand Union we will await the redesign of the Railtrack Tower which again is reduced to around 30 floors.

The areas of this development are...

• Praed Street - Huge development of Apartments shops and offices
  
• Paddington Station - Offices on top of the station (the second tower which
  originally got turned down), the new concourses and tube station.
  
• Paddington Basin - The details of which have already been mentioned.
  
• Paddington Westway - another part of the Basin area with offices shops and
  apartments.
  
• St Marys hospital - forming part of the Praed Street and Basin Sites

The total project will cost in excess of 300million pounds and is being developed by Chelmsfield. Thanks to Dean Rogers for the info on this project.

Work has started on the Millenium Quarter in London Docklands. The estimated heights for the buildings are as follows -

• One Millharbour: 25floors, 400ft
  
• Arrowhead Quay: 25floors, 395ft
  
• Four World Trade Centre London: 25floors, 377ft
  
• London Millharbour: 19floors, 298ft
  
• Posthouse Premier Hotel: 23floors, 240ft
  

You'll note that they aren't particularly tall buildings when compared to Canary Wharf however the local council worried about lack of transport for links for the area insisted that the buildings in question should not be proper skyscrapers. It's important to remember that this is only phase one of the development, and it includes an upgrade to the Docklands Light Railway which is essential if the project is to reach bigger heights in later stages.
There were originally plans for One Millharbour to be a whopper with 42 floors but this didn't go ahead as the developers withdrew their plans before a public enquiry could sit so it looks like Tower Hamlet's dream of their own Canary Wharf has been put on hold for now.

Tower Hamlets council and British Waterways looking to expand into Wood Wharf which lies between Canary Wharf and the City. The development will contain at least 3million square feet of space and highrise is the preferred option but the Canary Wharf group are off the list because the group wants to wait until it has developed the Shed35 site before it expands further.

Canary Wharf have been attempting to buy the last remaining site in Heron Quays. The original owners already have permission for 1.5million square feet of space but the Wharf want to increase this. It looks like no matter who develops this bit of land there'll be a high-rise building, the question is how high.

The Elephant and Castle redevelopment continues. You might remember the original plan was for two landmark towers surrounded by much smaller ones, well the developer and council have are having the plans redrawn to increase the height of some of the surrounding towers. Obviously they are aiming for a proper cluster of real skyscrapers in the area. The finished product should be unveiled late next summer.

Portsmouth retains its plans to be a highrise city. The millenium tower there has already started construction and the council now plan a £100million pound redevelopment on the waterfront topping out at 38 storeys. Port and immigration facilities will be at the base whilst the top will have a restaurant with stunning views. There's always a catch though, and due to the location of the site and poor transport arteries it seems the scheme is dependent on a £60million pound monorail/light railway being approved before it can start. Thanks to Alli for both these stories.

English Heritage may not be reknowned for their love of tall buildings but they have just announced that British Telecom Tower has been listed as a protected building, as has Elmley Moor television transmitter. They may not be classically beautiful structures but they are certainly as much a part of the country's national heritage as anywhere else.

• 6-8/22-24 BISHOPSGATE developed by DIFA & Tishman Speyer Properties
  KPF are currently carrying out a feasability study for this site. One option is a 200m tall tower with about 44-storeys. A possibly tenant is Deutsche Bank, which has a large requirement in the City of London of over 1million square feet.
  
• 80-81/104 BISHOPSGATE developed by Great Portland Estates
  This is a site directly in the centre of the Tower 42 / Swiss Re / Heron triangle that could be created in the City. No details of the project are available, but it does take the form of a tower.
  
• MILTON COURT developed by City & West End Properties
  Nothing else is known about this, except that it will be a tower and that it is in the City's western cluster, near CityPoint.
  
• ROPEMAKER PLACE developed by DGI
  A tower roughly equal in height to CityPoint (127m) is planned for this site at 25 Ropemaker Street, more or less adjacent to CityPoint.
  
• ST. BOTOLPH'S HOUSE developed by Minerva
  A 159m, 36-storey skyscraper is planned on this site to the East of the City's Eastern Cluster. If permitted, it could help to form the basis for a shift in the City's skyline eastwards. This will be the largest building in the city with at least one million square feet of space and occupying an entire block... massive.
  
• ALDGATE UNION developed by Tishman Speyer Properties
  Although the first phase is only 15-storeys, subsequent phases include a 1m sq ft tower, designed by Wilkinson Eyre, which could be of a significant height. Even further east than St. Botolph's House, it would also shift the visual emphasis eastwards.
  

We won't hear about whats happened with the enquiry until the end of November at the earliest... I would expect 110 Bishopsgate to be approved because it obscures nothing, and more importantly because the Swiss RE Tower got approval a few years ago by exactly the same standards after being called to an inquiry by the Secretary of State. Watch out Frankfurt, the sky's the limit. (Thanks to Jonathan Smith for some of the info).

Ballymore have announced their proposals for a new mixed use quarter in Docklands just opposite Canary Wharf called New Providence. The residential area will have apartments reaching 18 storeys in height. We don't have the floor heights but I'd reckon this development to be approx 200ft tall. They also have proposals for an office building on the site of approximately 25 floors which should work out at about 300ft. You can read all about this development here. (thanks to Glyn for this link)

The developers of Lots Road have released a picture of the site as it will look when it's completed and it's very impressive. The towers are long and slender, accentuating the height and making them look a lot taller than they really are. The scheme has been approved already and groundwork has started, surprisingly even English Heritage have backed this scheme. When finished they will be 426ft and 298ft tall which is very impressive for residential towers in West London...

Remember the Grand Union Building development in London, well it hasn't been cancelled. The developers and Richard Rogers, the archietect went back to the drawing board and have designed a new scheme for the same area after objections from Westminster council. The new tower on the blueprints will be two thirds of the height of the original plans, and topping out at 30 floors which works out at about 400ft making it the largest development outside the City and Canary Wharf since the 70s.