Three Developments For The City

M@
By M@ Last edited 218 months ago
Three Developments For The City
NewChange.jpg

Whoever took the Minutes at a recent City planning meeting must have been burning the midnight oil. No less than three major developments were approved by the committee, as reported by one of our favourite London sites, Skyscrapernews.com. They have all the details, so we’ll be brief…

First, a height increase for the (in our opinion) overrated Heron Tower. Construction is due to begin on the much-delayed Bishopsgate high-rise next year. And now it’s going to get an extra four floors, including a restaurant up top. At 242 m, this could well be London’s tallest building...for a time.

Second, a large site to the East of St Paul’s is to be redeveloped into an imaginative (bear with us on this) office and retail centre. The two-block development, called One New Change, looks to our eyes something like a football stadium that’s been dropped from a great height (see picture). But it sounds like it’ll be fun to wander round the ‘totally open roof and roof gardens with public access made possible by a unique ramp solution that runs through the heart of the building’. And this area could do with a few more shops that open during weekends.

Finally, a new riverside development to replace Mondial House (that egregious plastic ziggurat next to Cannon Street station). The new building, called Watermark Place, looks like an innovative yet inoffensive 10-storey glass office block, with dashes of yellow to complement the brickwork of the neighbouring station. More importantly, it will be set back from the river to create a new public space for watching the boats go by. Sounds like an improvement to us.

Last Updated 19 January 2006