It is a bit hard to keep tabs with all the various projects going on, but I thought I’d go over a few of the projects that have either caught my eye, have scale or are a bit different.
Smugglers Way
The first exemplifies advancements of the New London Vernacular (NLV) style of construction in London which is focused around the heavy use of brick.
Peninsula Place
Knight Dragon have released images of their mixed-use development by Santiago Calatrava planned for above North Greenwich tube station. It will replace the 1999 Foster station with a substantial station concourse and retail environment, and three residential towers. There will be a new pedestrian bridge to span the approaches to the Blackwall Tunnel and connect to developments planned for the western end of the Greenwich Peninsula. A new river pier will also be constructed.
Everything in the following images - with the exception of the O2 - is either under construction or planned; it is one of the largest construction sites in London.
Greenwich Peninsula
To follow on from the proposals for the Peninsula Place development above, the below give a further indication of the vast scale of the Greenwich Peninsula development; several dozen towers, many over 100m (none over 150m due to the proximity to London City Airport) are in the pipeline to be constructed. Most construction is currently focused on the eastern edge of the site.
10 Shortlisted Teams for the UK National Holocaust Memorial
Dezeen recently had an in-depth look at the ten shortlisted teams for the UK’s Holocaust Memorial planned for Victoria Tower Gardens, directly to the south of the Houses of Parliament.
North Quay Development - 228m, 218m, 208m + 113m
Directly across from Canary Wharf, towers have been planned for the North Quay site for well over a decade. The original plan envisioned two towers of 200m+, however the arrival of Crossrail (the Canary Wharf station is in the dock) meant that the site was utilised to build the station. Now that the site is no longer needed for Crossrail, Canary Wharf have unveiled their plans – by Foster + Partners – for a four-tower development, three of which are above 200m. The towers to the west of the new central podium are residential focused, whilst the office tower will be built to the east.
For those curious, the site to the immediate east is Billingsgate Fish Market; speculation of its relocation has been rife for many years due to its potential for intense development. It is approximately 2-3x the size of the North Quay site, but it is doubtful concrete proposals will emerge until this and Canary Wharf’s Wood Wharf – documented on the previous page – are well under way.
The Inner London borough of Islington has a new tallest building. Designed by Squire and Partners and delivered by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for Mount Anvil with Clarion Housing, the 117-metre-tall Lexicon tower spreads more than 300 apartments over a 36-storey frame.
A previously approved scheme for a 40-storey stacked tower in the centre of London's skyscraper cluster has been reworked by architect WilkinsonEyre and developers Mitsubishi Estate London and Stanhope. Plans for the 185-metre-tall tower at 150 Leadenhall have now grown in size, with the proponents now seeking a 220-metre skyscraper and an increase in lettable office space from 41,806 to 52,954 square metres.
Chinese developer wanda is the latest chinese company to buy a skyscraper development project in london after aquiring another five tower project in nine elms.
The site, just up the road from the 200m/161m two tower 'one nine elms' project, currently under construction has full planning permission so should progress quickly.
Fellow chinese developers are busy building towers all accross london at present, at canary wharf, croydon, wandsworth,nine elms, greenwich and others.
American developer has revealed that the entire wembley development is being built all together at the same time. The huge project, over 50 towers, will be incredible to see so many tower cores and cranes all rising together at the same time, in what will be a very impressive cluster. London has clusters going up all over the city, an unprecedented transformation happening before our eyes. I feel lucky to be able to witness it, the difference between now and 20 years ago is insane, and as most of the skyline changing projects are currently under construction, the real transformation is becoming visible over the next two to three years. Canary wharf alone (just one of londons clusters) will be unrivalled in the eu
Definitely need more updates here on London projects. So much great architecture going on in London at the moment, and in general.
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"Then each time Fleetwood would be not so much overcome by remorse as bedazzled at having been shown the secret backlands of wealth, and how sooner or later it depended on some act of murder, seldom limited to once."
Wish I'd had more time to learn about what I was seeing and go into more detail. You're right, there's a lot of great construction happening in London. I was quite overwhelmed with it all.
My apologies for the lack of recent updates; my time is limited these days and London shows no sign of slowing down! Perhaps over the festive break I’ll be able to pull something more detailed together, but in the meantime, I offer two tower developments announced last week.
Vauxhall Cross Island (180m + 150m)
Dual towers planned for the Vauxhall cluster, designed by Zaha Hadid architects.
100 Leadenhall
Currently at the consultation stage is a 249m SOM designed tower planned for the Square Mile. 110,000sq m of office with a new plaza on Leadenhall ringed by retail. A new pedestrian route through the site to Bury Street would also be created by the development. The current tenant leases expire in 2023, so this could be built by 2027, perhaps earlier if there is an early exit of the current tenants.
Finally, I also present to you rather cool shots by the ever-excellent Jason Hawkes who is probably the best aerial photographer in London. Check out more of his London and other international photography here: https://www.jasonhawkes.com
I like how London isnt extremely dense (high rise wise) in most areas but they are spread very well across the entire city. Almost reminds me of some asian cities. The skyline is really growing a lot and looks good. Some of them are gimmicky but most arent. Looks good.
I do wonder what happens to some of these, especially North Greenwich, when the Canary Wharf office market is about to get knee capped by Brexit. It at least turns them all into empty investment properties, rather than homes for European bankers on assignment to London.
__________________ There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - Isaac Asimov