The Square Mile's newest pair of skyscrapers are marking themselves out amongst the city's cluster of tall buildings, as these photographs, taken over the past couple of weeks, demonstrate.
20 Fenchurch St, dubbed by its marketing team the Walkie-Talkie for the way it flares out at the upper floors , topped out toward the end of last near. Much of the building's external form is now complete; work to construct the Sky Garden, a rooftop viewing deck which will be free to access for the public, is currently underway. The building is expected to open in spring 2014.
A little ways north, the Leadenhall Tower, aka the Cheesegrater, is approaching its full height; as of this weekend it stands at nearly 200m, with another 25m to go before it tops out, probably in June. It is also slated to open next year. There's some discussion of the technical challenges inherent in building both towers in this article at Construction Manager.
The news for the Pinnacle, or Helter-Skelter, is less promising: the building has been stalled for over a year, and there are now plans to significantly re-design the tower in a more economical fashion. The Pinnacle's problems stem from its inability to attract tenants, something also afflicting the Shard. No such problems for the new towers: both have pre-let over 50% of their space.
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