Got something to say????
Email -

Richard Rogers latest skyscraper design as revealed by this site last December, 122 Leadenhall Street, has taken another step forwards with the application for planning permission. The 736ft / 225m tall tower dubbed the 'cheese grater' will stretch over 48 floors and top the current tallest proposal for the City, the recently approved Minerva building despite containing almost half the office space - a mere 576,650 sq ft (53,571 sq m).
Standing on struts above a 90ft public garden off CGNU plaza the building contains the trademark Rogers diagonal bracing for the cladding and also the use of multicoloured beams which featured previous on former Stirling Prize nominee, 88 Wood Street. The north-side of the tower will feature glass lifts shooting up it like the current Lloyds of London building except to over twice the height giving what promises to be the best ride in London. There have been some concerns about the sheer verticality of the north-face and the mass it presents however it's clear that Rogers has addressed these by breaking it up with the use of colour creating a series of 3 by 3 coloured blocks. Although the lower floors of this building will contain public spaces there are no plans for this stage to see one at the top which should be a small block to gaining planning permission and one easily dealt with.
Thanks to the new planning climate created by 110 Bishopsgate and Minerva the Corporation of London looks likely to approve this tower despite any objects from heritage bodies who fear it will appear behind the dome of St Paul's when viewed from Fleet Street however it does not interfere with any current strategic views.
It is not likely to start construction before 2005 at the earliest but has planning permission filed for it by British Land who expect a 2006 plus office boom. This also means that British Land expect to start on both 201 Bishopsgate and the 400ft+ 51 Building which neighbours Leadenhall Street before 2006 making this small area ground zero for British skyscraper development.

Plans in London to redevelop Elizabeth House and the neighbouring area are expected to be formally announced this month with the unveiling of a new 33 floor tall tower to stand on the site of the current run down 60s office building which overlooks Waterloo Station and completely encircles the back of the Shell Center.
The nearby Victory Arch will be renovated and the road moved to provide a better traffic-flow through the area and a new shopping mall to take advantage of the passing pedestrians using the station as well as new public space which is promised to be traffic free. As part of this planning gain the developer P&O hope to get their tower designed by RHWL architects, a sailshaped building on the otherside of Yorkshire Road which is believed to be just under 500ft / 150m tall approved by the local authorities.
Almost Gheryesque, with a strong sculptural shape, obviously inspired by the Southbank, the wedge-shaped building features gently undulating walls covered in reflective glass cladding that rise up into a tip. Overlooking the Shell Center and London Eye the pinnacle of it reaches approximately 440ft / 130m.
This comes just days after exploratory plans were announced for a couple of 200m tall buildings for a neighbouring site promising yet another new cluster for London.

The controversial 44 Hopton Street, which stands next to the Tate Modern Gallery on the Southbank has been given approval by a judge. At 72m tall the location has been particularly sensitive due to concerns that it would overshadow the Tate gallery but also complaints from local residents that the amount of sunlight they get would be hindered.
Presiding over the inquiry Mr Justice Collins ruled that "in an urban setting it must be anticipated that development may take place and that high rise buildings are inevitable having regard to building costs and the value of city centre land. Further, it is in the public interest that residential developments take place in urban areas if possible."
This will be the latest of a spate of similar heighted developments all along the Southbank as far as Southwark which is now seeing a rapidly developing cluster.

EXCLUSIVE - Here's an exclusive look at look at the planned 100m tall Glasgow Trinity Towers. Designed by Coopar Cromar Architects the £100 million pound development will consist of a hotel tower of 28 floors, a residential tower which will be 21 floors and an office tower of 15 floors and 150,000 square feet of space. The hotel will contain a bar and restaurant at the top with the Trossachs visible on the horizon giving one of the most stunning views in the U.K. Built on the edge of the M8 overlooking Europe's busiest road bridge it looks set to provide a stunning gateway setting into the now increasingly rebuilt Glasgow.

What will be the tallest building in the City of London has been approved by the planning committee after a positive recommendation from the Corporation's planners. The Minerva Building, by the up-and-coming property firm of the same name will tower at 217m / 712ft above the ground. Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw it comprises of 49 floors including public restaurant and viewing platform at the top, and a whopping 1 million square feet of space and will comprise part of what is rapidly becoming a new skyline for the City along with the similarly heighted 122 Leadenhall Street and 183m tall 110 Bishopsgate.
There was some local opposition from residents who feared their houses would be overshadowed, worries that were whipped up by heritage organisation which leafletted the area trying to scare them, and were proved wrong by a specially commissioned study and demands for a public inquiry from the Historic Royal Palaces Commission who claim it will ruin views from and of the Tower of London. Following the recent government lectures to English Heritage and other like-minded organisations on pointless public inquiries about skyscrapers it seems unlikely that this building will be called in by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and approval has really been approval.
Minerva do not plan to build speculatively and are currently awaiting a client to take up a lease of at least 450,000 sq feet before progressing any further although they claim to have had siginificant interest. It remains to be seen whether this building will be starting this year, with 2005 as the more likely date.

EXCLUSIVE - Here's a look at the stunning proposed Richard Rogers tower for the City of London at 122 Leadenhall Street. The skyscraper which looks set to tower above the City skyline will be 736ft / 225m tall. Standing on stilts above a public garden, it will contain glass lifts shooting up and down the north elevation from tip to toe. Commissioned by British Land it will stand literally next door to Lloyds of London giving daunting views looking up Leadenhall Street. Already dubbed the 'cheese grater', the building will be clad in a mixture of glass and Rogers signature stainless steel, providing a welcome change from the increasing amount of light glass buildings proposed for the City skyline. An application is expected to be filed in 2004 with construction not starting before 2005 at the earliest.

The 120m tall Ropemaker place has been approved by the Borough of Islington following a submission by Helical Bar who are working on creating a new property investment London for Deutsche Bank. The 23 floor tower which will stand directly next to Citypoint is part of a growing cluster on London Wall, that includes its recently developed neighbour and the under construction Moorhouse. Work on this should start sometime in 2004.

German developers DIFA have announced that they will be selecting American architects Kohn Pedersen Fox to develop a tower on 6-8 Bishopsgate following a competition involving some of the leading architects in London. The tower which is expected to be revealed next year has been beset with difficulties following the acrimonious withdraw of previous architects Murphy Jahn who were fed up with criticisms of their design from the Corporation of Londons planning department. Let's hope things go more smoothly this time.

British Land have announced that they are considering building one of their approved buildings for the City speculatively. Both 201 Bishopsgate and the 130m tall 51 Lime Street are on the cards, and with Norton Rose rumoured to be considering a move to 201 Bishopsgate we could see the construction of both starting soon and the added knock on effect of 110 Bishopsgate finally starting. Combining this announcement with Great Portland Estates renewed aquistion in the City of property and it would appear that the downturn is nearing its end and that 2004 could well be a better year for the London office market than 2003.

Development of London's major transport interchanges looks set to continue apace with the announcement that the Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has requested a study into the construction of two 200m+ skyscrapers as part of the redevelopment of Waterloo Station. Waterloo which was in the 1960s the site of Europes largest office complex, the Shell Center, has been largely left out of current development in recent years. The findings of the study are still awaited but it seems we can expect plans similar to those for Stratford International that take advantage of the prime location of the railway station with a high density masterplan.

Revised plans for Wood Wharf, which lies adjacent Canary Wharf have been rubberstamped by Tower Hamlets following minor changes mentioned previously on this site of reducing the intrusion on the water and removing completely an arch which would have overshadowed the nearby wharf. British Waterways plans for the area still include two 35 floor office towers which are massed at 550ft/160m and a 330ft/100m+ tall hotel tower. The project is expected to begin in 2005 in completion around 2009 with the next stage being specific plans being submitted for each building. Once finished there should be a continuous cluster of buildings stretching all the way from Blackwall in the east to the western edge of Canary Wharf.

Meanwhile, the final phase of New Providence Wharf has also gotten the goahead from Tower Hamlets council. The 103m tall hotel tower is being built by Irish property developer Ballymore who have had success with the previous phases expect it to start construction in the first half of next year.

The 103m tall 4 and 5 Marshwall have been resubmitted to Tower Hamlets council following much criticism of their previous designs. With an increase in the number of affordable properties and the visual elements of the towers completely changed to make them appear less squat local word has it this version will be a done deal. Construction on the towers is expected to start at some point next year.

After much wrangling London Bridge Tower is set to be given full approval. What will be Europe's first thousand footer is 1016ft / 310m tall, has been designed by the leading architect Renzo Piano for Sellar Properties.
Dubbed the 'Shard of Glass' by admirers and critics alike it has been attacked by English Heritage as a 'spike through London's heart' who were concerned about it's impact on the Tower of London. Although approved by Southwark Council and the Mayor of London the Deputy Prime Minister called it in for a public inquiry in 2002.The results were originally timed for September but have been delayed for ten weeks thanks to what Whitehall sources call a 'busy Westminster'. The cost of the inquiry is estimated at £11 million, this is on top of last years £12 million Heron Inquiry.
Demolition of the high-rise on the site will begin early next year with construction for the new tower starting in early 2005. When completed it should be the 26th tallest building in the world, London's tallest building, the 777ft / 237m tall 1 Canada Square, was the 51st when completed back in 1991.
Accusations have already started flooding in that the announcement, on the first day of President Bush's controversial state visit to London is a classic piece of New Labour news management to deflect media attention from the controversial decision.
Although the government has since promised to address them, the issues with NIMBYism and planning delays that have caused such a protracted process remain for other buildings to overcome despite the news, although the 217m tall Minerva tower looks set to be approved by the Corporation of London in the new year and it looks unlikely another tall building will be sent to a public inquiry.

Bridgewater Place, Leeds has been approved for the second time by the planning committee of the city after a new design was submitted. The previous design which made the office use the focal-point had run into trouble with contractors who felt that they were unable to build what was required for the price and would therefore lose money. Our sources at Skanska tell us that the shortfall was somewhere in the region of £2 million for them alone but following the redesign the proposed tower is economical once more. It remains at 30 floors and will still be Leeds tallest building however it will now contain 21 floors of flats and 9 of offices, but these have only led to minor design changes featuring modified stairwells and new atriums. Once completed it will be 106.6m to the roof and 126m to spire.
Construction is expected to start early next year.

Grimshaw Architects have reduced the air-rights for the planned Paddington Station development and so there will be no tower now. The original plans included a tower which has gradually been reduced in height over time - initially over 150m it was then revised down to 110m before the latest insistence from Conservative Westminster Council that the highrise element be eliminated all together. The council are understood to be hostile to skyscrapers despite occupying a tower as their headquarters, and are not enthusiastic about tall buildings in Paddington, lest they let off a a flood of proposals. This does not affect the neighbouring Grand Union Building which remains approved and is waiting an occupier nor does it affect West End Green Tower which will also stand nearby.

Reuters have announced plans to develop their Blackwall Yard site following their move to Canary Wharf. The site which is currently occupied by a 60m tall black glass building and a massive amount of carparking stands right next to the under construction 90m tall New Providence Wharf. Reuters have applied to build a tower of 719 units for residential use in 6 towers ranging from 11 to 29 floors with the tallest tower at about 100m tall.
The site has clearly been modelled for maximum density with the height of the towers pushing the limit thanks to its proximity to City Airport, we expect minor revisions and a resumbmitted application before this one gets the goahead.

The proposed 181m tall tower to stand at Vauxhall at St Georges Wharf has run into trouble following the refusal of the council to make a decision about whether or not it should go ahead. The tower was previously rejected because of the lack of affordable housing and now this has been addressed by the developer and the tower plans have been modified entirely to what Lambeth planning authorities requested the council will neither approve it nor overrule it.
Overruling it with no grounds for doing so opens them up to a clear cut legel battle with St George which they would very obviously lose. The alternative which they are doing right now is to try and consign the tower to a legal planning limbo simply because the UDP of Lambeth does not like tall buildings next to the river because he doesn't like tall buildings next to the river.
As a result the developer are now demanding the Office of Deputy Primeminster carry out a public inquiry into the behaviour of Lambeth council and with the support of CABE and the Mayors office are expected to sue for millions of pounds worth of damages as a test case for skyscrapers in the borough. As previously predicted we are aware that a further half a dozen developers with similar plans are standing by to see the results.
Clearly despite having had two public inquiries into skyscrapers in London in the past few years and Swiss RE building a tower in the middle of the City, tipping point has not yet been reached with regards to actual construction of skyscrapers in London.

Chelsea and Kensington council have refused planning permission to the proposed tower to stand on Lots Road powerstation for the third time. The development which stradles two boroughs has been approved by neighbouring Fulham but now rejected by Chelsea despite a recommendation to approve the tower from the local planning authorities and the councils previous concerns about transportation having been addressed by developers Taylor Woodrow and Hutchison Whampoa. A favourable recommendation on the issue had been issued in the planning report but it was still rejected simply because the plans do not fit in with the councils own unitary plans which are specifically anti-highrise. With support from the Mayor of London, and even English Heritage the developers are expected to start legal action against Chelsea and Kensington council.

The results of the public inquiry for London Bridge Tower still haven't been released despite original plans were to make an announcement in September, and then October "because Westminster was busy" according to our source. Well it's almost November and still not a word despite the deputy Prime Minister giving a speech last week calling for more of a "wow-factor" in buildings stating Swiss RE specifically, given that speech it would be ill advised of him to refuse London Bridge Tower having specifically praised buildings like it but still everyone waits.

What will be the tallest residential skyscraper in the country has been approved for Deansgate, Manchester. The Beetham Tower, the latest creation of the prolific Liverpool based property developer. The 48 floor hotel and residential building, which has been secretly under design for over 2 years has the support of both English Heritage and the local council. At a cost of £150 million the 153m tall glass tower will be have on its top an 18m "glass blade", views of Snowdonia and Liverpool, a 285 bed Hilton Hotel, and 219 apartments ranging from £100,000 to £2.5 million each. Most impressively of all will be a skybar on the 32nd floor serving drinks to those who want to admire the view giving proper public access to the tower which will be the tallest outside of London.
Construction is expected to start in February next year, Beetham are now said to be planning a tower for London and if their provincial record is anything to go by they should break the Manchester record sooner than later.

What will be Stratfords tallest building has been given planning approval. Straford Gate, designed by Broadway Malayan for Baratt it will contain 200 apartments, 30% of which are affordable plus a gym and commercial space. At 88m tall it will tower 24 floors above the borough of Newham and be the tallest building so far to get the goahead for an area that has been zoned in the Mayor of London's plans as suitable for tall buildings.The area which is set to get an international train station linking it to both Paris and St Pancras, and is the center of the British Olympic bid looks sure to get a whole lot taller over the coming few years.

Helical Bar have applied for planning permission for their new 350,000 sq ft tower to stand on the island off Mitre Square, the site of one of Jack the Rippers murders in the City of London. The tower will have 20 floors and top out at about 100m, and is the latest of a recent flood of mid-rise proposals to hit the City. Construction is set to commence only once there has been a substantial pre-let however their recent report into their growing property portfolio expects an upturn to happen in 2004.

Lots Road, the much delayed twin residential proposal to stand next to the abandoned power-station on the border between Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham is set to be approved following the thumbs up from the Mayor of London. The towers which will be 122m and 85m tall have run into trouble in the past following the complaints of NIMBY's ironically including those living in the 77m tall Chelsea Harbour development, and hostile Conservative councillors. The site has been redesigned by Terry Farell and following final approval which looks a mere formality construction should finally start in early 2004. Once completed the taller tower will be London's 4th tallest residential building.

Birmingham developers, Drayton Manor Park, have unveiled their plans for an enormous Gate in Birmingham to be built at East Side as the centerpiece of the 6 billion pound development. The 300 foot tall arch, based on the famous St Louis arch in the USA will have an added twist of gondolas suspended from it which will allow people to ride it providing them with stunning views of Britain's second city.
If the Gate fails to be built there are a number of proposals floating around such as the Birmingham Needle, an observation platform which was the centerpiece of the city's failed Capital of Culture bid.

West India Quay Tower, the tallest building in Canary Wharf not to be built by the Canary Wharf Group has finally topped out. At 111m the final part of the structure was placed on the 24th of September, and will be half occupied by the Mariott Hotel group and half residential apartments having a phased opening next year between February and May 2004.

Columbus Tower at Canary Wharf looks set to go before the planners of Tower Hamlets Council next month on the 12th of November. The 63 floor 237m tall tower will be the tallest in the country if it goes ahead exceding the neighbouring 1 Canada Square by 2m. All the signs are looking good with the design submission being praised by CABE and the planners who warmly welcomed not only the quality but the depth of the submission. If approval is given then it looks likely to start construction in early 2004.

Minerva have announced their yearly results and mentioned in the report they have had interest from a number of firms eager to occupy some of the space in their planned tower which at 217m will be the tallest in the City of London.
The tower meanwhile has been lambasted by residents sceptical that the redesign will lead to them getting more sunlight and are threatening to oppose it. The middle-rise part of the tower has already been redesigned to take into account the concerns of local residents but now the Corporation of London has undertaken an independent study - of course if it doesn't back up Minerva's own findings then they will have submitted an incorrect planning permission.
It seems the Corporation is erring on the side of caution with this one to try and please everybody but unless Minerva have submitted an incorrect planning application it seems likely the residents who ironically live in towers too are victims of scaremongering.

German investment bankers DIFA have announced they have held a competition for their proposed skyscraper at 6-8 Bishopsgate that has featured five of the leading architects in the country following the withdrawl of Murphy Jahn. Foster and Partners, Grimshaw, Wilkinson Eyre Architects, KPF and Bennetts Associates are all waiting to see which design will progress to the next stage of development.
Plans for the site are said to be just over 200m tall which will create a mile-stone skyscraper at the front of the City cluster when viewed from tower bridge. With Minerva and 122 Leadenhall Street also over 200m tall it seems the City's skyline is finally about to take off.

EXCLUSIVE - The growth of in the Isle of Dogs continues apace with two new proposals for 4 and 5 Marshwall. Designed by Chantry Davis for Masterworks the towers will come in at 102.7m tall each and will stand on the outskirts of the Millenium Quarter directly west of South Quay Plaza on the defunct WTC site that was badly hit by the IRA bomb in 1996.
Number 4 (pictured) glazed in green glass, will contain 23 floors of office space, plus retail and restaurant at ground level whilst number 5 will have aluminium with reflective glass cladding and will provide 186 hotel rooms over the first 18 floors and the 19th to 31st floors will be 72 apartments including three floors of affordable housing.
Whilst the development fits in with the surrounding areas perfectly, with such a low amount of housing set aside for those on lower incomes this project will not go-ahead in it's current state, particularly as the Mayor of London has set a 50% target for this and other high-rise developments are having problems getting approved with only 25%. SN.com expects the planning documents to be resubmitted once the developers address this issue because right now they don't have a hope in hell of going ahead.

EXCLUSIVE - As SN.com revealed months ago Irvine Sellar has finally made good with his plans to buy London Bridge House, the site opposite his planned 1000 foot tall skyscraper for London Bridge Tower. With speculation on LBT reaching a frenzy it's understood that Sellar has bought LBH for £29 million with two distinct plans in mind.
If a public inquiry rules against LBT then he can build his skyscraper at LBH and avoid all the problems associated with the infrastructure upgrades that the project will require as someone else will occupy the site of the station then and avoid potential problems of the neighbouring tower blocking observation platforms when looking towards St Pauls.
On the otherhand the site is ripe for development anyway and SN.com understands that a 600,000 sq ft skyscraper is planned for that location with Royal London Asset Management well in mind although this development has nothing to do with Sellar.
We hear that Sellar has his own plans for the site and a source close to him has told us on a number of occasions that there is a possible second shorter tower planned.
Of course the two could have their sites swapped around if LBT is ruled against, as then the heritage bodies would have no grounds for complaint as neither building would be visible from inside the Tower of London whilst the smaller tower would be more suitable for the LBT site.
With the inquiry due to have its report released any day now it seems likely Southwark IS going to get Renzo Piano's famous 'shard of glass' and another neighbouring skyscraper, the only questions are which will go on which site and where will Royal London Asset Management build their headquarters now?

The plans to build a 244m tall tower in Birmingham at Arena Central have finally been laid to rest after years of dithering by the developers. Designed by HOK and approved by the Secretary of State himself the project was to be the crowning of Birmingham's ambitious plans to rival Frankfurt as a banking and business center and build Britain's tallest building.
Sadly demand for a tower of such size in somewhere like Birmingham has been less than enthusiastic and despite the best efforts of the council, developers and potential occupiers haven't gone for their forward-looking plans whilst some people have predictably gone to blame Sept the 11th thinking that Birmingham would be a major target for Bin Laden. To make matters worse the C.A.A threatened to invoke their height restrictions on the Birmingham skyscraper which apply to all buildings outside London and make it impossible to build anything over approx 130m thanks to its height above sea-level.
The result is the tower is now officially off and will probably not be resurrected. Instead there is talk of building three 12 floor office blocks instead in a 2.4 million square feet mixed use development, a glowing indictment if ever there was one of how far Birminghams dreams have fallen.

EXCLUSIVE - 15 Canada Square in Canary Wharf is to be expanded in size and height from 12 floors to 20. The building which stands between HSBC and Barclays headquarters which was set to be occupied by the now bankrupt Enron and has now undergone a redesign to increase it substantially from the current planned 55,470sq feet of space although it's not known if another client has come forwards to occupy it yet. This will fill up the space currently seen from Greenwich between those two taller towers, and give the area its 10th 100m+ building, although the height hasn't been announced SN.com expect it to come in at about 110m total and it's expected to be the last 100m+ tower to be built with the current lax planning restrictions of the Docklands Development Zone.

The planned tower for 44 Hopton Street next to the Tate has taken another step forward with a released redesign. Previously almost 100m tall the development has now been reduced to 72m to address some of the criticisms levelled at it thanks to the sensitive spot it could occupy. Designed by Kevin Dash Architects it will be 20 floors and contain a mere 28 flats, the most pricey of which will be a £10 million pound penthouse.
Despite this redesign the attacks have continued aimed at the lack of masterplanning for the tower, blocking out the light of the gallery and most ironically given the wealth of those criticising it, the lack of affordable housing which is has been set below the Mayors target by the developers.
The howls of complaints from residents seem to be falling on deaf ears at the local council so far, who have promised to give the tower a fair hearing (as they are legally obliged to).

London is set to get yet another cluster with the announcement of a series of new towers to be built in Ilford. The centerpiece of the proposals is a 100m tall twin tower complex linked together with 264 flats and a 19,000 square foot arts and crafts market. The developer is the 30 and 23 floor complex is Empire Property Group.
This comes hot on the heels of an 88m tall 24 storey residential proposal for Stratford town center at 160-170 Stratford Highstreet. Just down the road is another proposal for a 23 floor residential tower 85m tall tower at 20-26.
Finally across the borough at 2 Pier Road, Woolwich is a 21 floor residential tower that will be approximately 70m tall.
This comes on top of the massive plans for Stratford international that feature 50 floor towers, plus an olympic village, that SN.com reported on earlier in the year, assuring the area as one of the major growth centers of London over the next decade or so.

EXCLUSIVE - The seaside town of Brighton and Hove is see a boom in high-rise construction over the next few years as developers fall over themselves to build new towers on the classy resort.
Local hero Piers Gough has designed a new development for Preston Road consisting of two buildings, the taller of which is 16 floors topped with a five story cube in a nod of tribute to his hero Frank Gherhy. Despite some critiscism and an impending redesign the tower looks set to keep the cube, despite some locals campaigning to knock it's block off.
Piers Gough is also behind the Brighton Marina development which has seen plans for twin towers facing each other over the harbour entrance. Whilst not particularly tall they have suffered vitrolic criticism from blue blooded locals aghast at Brighton becoming more modern and less twee.
Gough has also been advising Frank Ghery on this own designs for four towers on the seafront as previously reported by SN.com earlier in the year. Radical in design they beat off competition from famous architects including Richard Rogers and will go ahead now as part of the a masterplan for the King Alfred Leisure Center. The tallest of these towers will be 38 floors and they look likely at coming in just under 500 feet but have been criticised by some members of the local council who believe they will "ruin the lives of thousands of people who live in Hove".
Provincial tower kings, Beetham have also announced that they will be developing a £60 million project for Brighton although details on the design are sketchy right now and will be released in the coming weeks although the budget coincidentally is the exact amount of profit they will make from their latest project in Manchester.
Brighton company Sign of Four have come up with a design for an 18 floor tall tower to be built in nearby Newhaven which will contain a mere 22 apartments proving the enthusiasm of developers. The tower which has been submitted to Lewes Council is being argued for on the grounds of 300 jobs for construction workers and the ability to bring in £74 million pounds of investment. Figures like this from such a small project don't seem to add up and we can only wonder if this is on shakier ground than the others thanks to barely making a prick in the housing supply whilst making a big spike on the skyline.
There are also a couple of large hotel owners said to be in talks with planners for the Kingswest Center site although these like the planned Beetham project will have details released in the coming months. Given the amount of holiday-makers to the area though, it seems more than likely a number of new hotels will be built that offer all the high-tech amenities of the 21st century.
Either way, despite predictable local outrage in one of the U.Ks most conservative towns some projects are bound to go ahead and Brighton will take a step to being the country's very own Miami.

EXCLUSIVE - Some good news for Glasgow that the Trinity Project to be built on the former council headquarters has not only taken another step forwards through the planning process with construction expected to start this October with completion in 2006 but it has also grown in height since SN.com last covered in March.
Both Towers have now been increased by an extra 5 floors and the result is striking is what was another run of the mill mid-rise has been turned into something more elegant. We estimate the height at approximately 300ft/90m which will make them the tallest towers in the whole city.
The spire may have gone but the end result is definitely for the best given the current soaring design and it seems for sure now that the £100 million project will make a dent on Glasgows skyline and a gateway entrance from the M8. Designed for the developers Elphinstone it will contain 320-bedroomed 4-star plus hotel operated by Macdonald Hotels featuring conference and leisure facilities, a rooftop restaurant and a sky bar, an adjacent residential block of 72 luxury flats plus commercial office space of modest 160,000 square feet.
Let's hope that it will finally mark a turning point in the city's future, a place that thanks to past bitter experience hasn't been enamoured with high-rise.

EXCLUSIVE - There has been some good news for skyscraper plans in Docklands with the Mayors office tripping over itself enthusiastically for the proposed residential Columbus Tower which if completed will be the U.Ks tallest building at 237m and 1m taller than the neighbouring One Canada Square. Although the development has run in to some difficulty from Canary Wharf who have been lukewarm about it fearing competition the tower has been praised for its high-quality design and the comprehensive design statement that was submitted with the proposal and is quite simply one of the most detailed ever seen. No doubt there will be minor design reviews to this tower before permission is granted, but it's expected to sail through the planning process with construction starting sometime in late 2004 setting a new benchmark for residential proposals in the capital.

EXCLUSIVE - The proposed Riverside South towers have also been warmly welcomed, and just as we predicted when the initial plans were announced has called on the developers Canary Wharf to incorporate a public viewing platform into the top floor - something they have so far refused to do because of 'security risks'.
Presumably they are much more vulnerable to such things than other developers who are including public areas at the top of their buildings, so once again special rules will have to be made for the Wharf(!) Criticism for the project centered almost exclusively around the issue of public access for the it which is a given when other developers submit plans.
The general quality of the architecture was welcomed with only minor criticisms. This is the first time however Canary Wharf have had to submit their plans normally, rather than have special development zone rules so there is bound to be a little friction with planning authorities as the culture in the company is forced to change. Our source tells us that we can expect they will listen though and concede having fought their corner, or else the planning authorities will face the wrath of other developers who will see it as Canary Wharf being given unfair treament.