LONDON | Bishopsgate Tower - "The Pinnacle" | 944 FT / 288 M | 63 FLOORS
 

Bishopsgate Tower - "The Pinnacle"

City of London, England

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


Links:
Promotional video (YouTube)
SkyscraperNews page


Notes:
At 288m, the Bishopsgate Tower will form the dramatic centrepiece and soaring pinnacle of London’s financial district.
It will be over 100 metres taller than the City's current tallest building, Tower 42.

Plans for a tower on this site have been around since 2002. A previous design by Helmut Jahn was rejected after concerns
about the base and top, and its bulky appearance on the skyline. This new design, however, is more sleek and elegantly
proportioned. The architects of this new version, Kohn Pederson Fox, have created a tower which is more sensitive to the
City skyline, especially from Fleet Street, and complements the neighbouring proposals.

A planning application for a 307m tower was submitted in June 2005. Following concerns about flight paths from the Civil Aviation Authority,
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.


Current Status:
Demolition has now begun, and with funding and contracts secured, it has been confirmed that the tower will be
built speculatively. Actual construction is expected to begin in Easter 2008, with completion in 2011.
The full planning report for the tower can be accessed by clicking here.



http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images...Tower_pic7.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tetower/16.jpg



http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4...ndon4jgpw3.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tetower/11.jpg



http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images...Tower_pic2.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tower/base.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tetower/15.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tetower/13.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tetower/14.jpg



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...atetower/1.jpg

I really like how the glass is used at the base.

very exciting design in many ways... wonder if it will actually be built? I can't help but be doubtful.

This has funding from some very rich Arab investors, and we've known for a while it's being built speculatively. The demolition is now entering the final stages, and construction itself will follow immediately... I'd say it's pretty certain to go ahead. :)

Couple of recent pics, courtesy of GazKinz from SkyscraperCity:


http://i25.tinypic.com/2ed5yy8.jpg


http://i30.tinypic.com/dq13jq.jpg

I love the tower design. It also serves as a central signature tower positioned centrally in downtown.

Ok, that's interesting wjfox.

Cypherus - London doesn't have a 'downtown' in the NAmerican sense... but the tower will give a focal point to the City.

Wow. Very nice design. :tup:

Here are some overhead views of the site, courtesy of cstubbies from SkyscraperCity. They were taken from neighbouring Tower 42 (the City's current tallest).



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2346/...dcb65095_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2206/...b209596e_o.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2219/...dc91b9fd_o.jpg

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images...Tower_pic2.jpg

^It looks like a quality project.
Organic, futuristic, perfectly integrated... I love it !

This tower will certainly be a great addition to the city. These high quality renders demonstrate that well. I am especially impressed to see that the base allows for easy pedestrian movement around and through the base.

This will be very unlike Swiss Re, which apart from it's many qualities did have a very minimal entrance, lobby and forecourt. At the base it is practically detached from it's surroundings. For this reason, I have at least, always preferred to see it from a distance. This won't be the case with this one.

The base is incredible on this building. Its like a the bottom of a dress in motion. Incredibly dynamic in its form but still very subtle in a way. Very nice!

London doesn't have a downtown? The entire city is a downtown!! I love this tower and I love London. London might not have the most towers for its size, but what it is lacking it makes up for in great design.

Exactly - the concept is meaningless when applied to London.

What a great looking tower. The base looks so kewl. Very Kewl...

:cool:

A model which includes 2 of the other planned towers nearby (122 Leadenhall and the Heron Tower) -


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/94/25...d0351d0b_b.jpg

^^ What a beautiful cluster!

Nice tower, and fits very well into the cluster.

I wouldn't say that.
I'd say that the cluster would be boring without the Pinnacle.

2011 is looking good for a completion date on a lot of really beautiful buildings in London!

I do feel sorry though for the workers in what I think is a good looking stubby building at the base of 'The Pinnacle' in the picture above, will it see much daylight??? :D

It looks like the London skyline could be much different come the Olympics.
Bishopsgate could become a real icon. A first class design.

They're called Hiscox in that building and they're already complaining about the noise - the building on the site already that's being demolished was built literally inches away from the Hiscox building. And they are lawyers so they keep being a pain in the courts.

Greatest project in the world!!!

Hands down, my fave ever.

What a fantastic way to commit suicide. I can think of no better...

Hell yeah!! Giant slide to HELL!!

:haha:

I hope the NIMBY's keep their hands off this project.
I love the fascade, the shape and height. Best wishes.

I hope this is just the start:yes:

New rendering of the City, courtesy of Hayes Davidson -



http://www.willfox.com/images/skyscr...tetower/17.jpg

A recent video I made, from the top of a bus going through the City -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqUt7uVPZNQ

Shows various sites, with info and renderings for each. You can download the hi-res version below. I would strongly recommend this, as the quality is much higher (it's around 89mb) -

http://www.willfox.com/videos/skyscr...1march2008.wmv

Beautiful! I love the literal interpretation of "skin" at the base.

must be hard to find room for a skyscraper in this city cause it is so densly populated

Just a quick update. Demolition is pretty much complete now.

They will proceed with the foundations/basement. However, a contract for the above-ground superstructure has yet to be signed. In the current economic climate, it's unclear if this will go ahead.


Photo by DarJoLe of SkyscraperCity.com

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2009/...2d0d8464_b.jpg



and another one by Jimbo.

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/9316/img2137wt0.jpg

If the site remains unoccupied for several years, the developer will lose money. Hopefully, the contract for the tower will be signed before the foundations are completed.

Yeah, let's hope so. Such a great looking tower it would be a shame not to see it go up.

You made my day XD.

This is one tower I really hope will go up.

Thrilled for London! Woo~Hoo!:banana:

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.as...de=3124924&c=1

http://www.propertyweek.com/Pictures...pinnacle_2.jpg


The Wolseley owners to open highest restaurant in London

13:54 | 14.10.08
By Deirdre Hipwell

The owners of the celebrity-favoured Wolseley restaurant on Picadilly have agreed to lease the top floors of the proposed The Pinnacle tower scheme in the City of London.

Rex Restaurants Associates, headed by restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, has agreed to take 13,000 sq ft of space for a restaurant and cocktail bar on levels 58 to 63 of the almost 300m high Pinnacle scheme. It will be open to the general public as well as office tenants and will have 360 degree views of London.

Rex Restaurants owns The Wolseley in Piccadilly and St Alban in Regent Street. Corbin and King were the former proprietors of Le Caprice, The Ivy and J. Sheekey.

Khalid Affara, managing director Arab Investments which will manage the development, said: ‘I am delighted to have reached agreement with Rex Restaurants Associates to provide the sort of high quality restaurant which The Pinnacle and its tenants expect and deserve. We look forward to them creating what will be one of the best restaurants in Europe as part of a truly iconic addition to the London skyline.’

The Pinnacle, designed by the international architect Kohn Pederson Fox Architects, will have 63 floors and around 1m sq ft of office space in the historic Bishopsgate area of London.

Demolition work on the site has been completed and completion is estimated for the first half of 2012.

Savills and David Coffer Lyons advised Arab Investments.

New rendering, includes several other towers planned nearby -


http://i34.tinypic.com/22e3gk.jpg

.

http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?...de=3130917&c=0

Brookfield to build Pinnacle for £575m in City…

09 January 2009

By David Rogers

Australian contractor Brookfield has signed a deal to build the Pinnacle – the tallest building in the City of London – for about £575m.

The firm, which changed its name from Multiplex last year, agreed a maximum price with developer Arab Investments just before Christmas. The figure is understood to be £75m higher than initially expected.

Brookfield was originally chosen to build the 63-storey scheme in Bishopsgate in summer 2007 and the developer had hoped the job would be completed by 2011. But delays in signing off the deal mean it is now set to finish in early 2013.

Mace has been overseeing the demolition and groundworks, which are being carried out by Keltbray, for more than a year under a construction management deal but will hand over to Brookfield next Thursday.

Ashley Muldoon, the managing director of Brookfield’s construction business in the UK, said: “We’re pleased to have signed the contract with Arab Investments and look forward to supporting them in the development of the tower.”

The firm has let most of the main subcontracts on the 288m-high tower. Dutch contractor Hollandia, which worked with Brookfield on Wembley Stadium, and Belgian firm Victor Buyck will carry out steelwork as a joint venture, having previously worked together on the Gherkin. Permasteelisa subsidiary Gartner will carry out the cladding.

Meanwhile, Mace is expected to sign a deal to build the 310m-high Shard in London Bridge within the next week. According to sources close to the project, the scheme’s funders are close to agreeing a price of about £425m for the tower.

This is great. So both these towers will be rising together then? That will be an amazing thing to watch.

Signing contracts and getting the money to fulfil the contract are not the same.

They don't as yet have the money. And since I find the Pinnacle too Dubai-esque for my liking I hope they never find it.

Leadenhall is so brilliantly London, like a Lloyds-style money-making factory turned upright.

The Shard, for all its light, will have something of a foreboding presence over the city. It would have fitted in well in V for Vendetta. A fantastic building.

In contrast, I see nothing of London in either the Pinnacle or the ridiculous-looking 20 Fenchurch Street.

I agree 100%. This has to be the least favorite of the current crop of new talls for London. It is just boring, the bottom of the tower is decent, but I find the wrap effect sort of a gimmick. Leadenhall is indeed the best of the current proposals, the Shard is o.k. But if only Leadenhall went up I would be happy.

This tower is nasty, look at the curtain wall. The Shard will be the real pinnacle of the London Skyline (height), but this is a beautiful design, easily one of the best in the world right now. It may not scream present day London, but it will become an icon like 30 Axe and the Shard.

New rendering -


http://i39.tinypic.com/dnj1ci.jpg

And here's a video I made in the City recently, including the site of this tower -

http://www.willfox.com/videos/skyscr...rt2jan2009.wmv

It's about 7 minutes (100 megabytes).


If you prefer to watch a low-res version, I've posted it on my YouTube account -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohtR35VSvyg

Here you can see piling in progress. Photo by fitz44 of skyscrapercity -


http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a.../120109117.jpg

how long till it starts to rise

could we have a new update please?

nevermind, I got this and the shard mixed up.

how?
actually they aren't totally different