A Rare Sight: No Cranes In The City Of London Cluster

M@
By M@

Last Updated 10 December 2024

A Rare Sight: No Cranes In The City Of London Cluster
The City of London with no cranes
Image: Matt Brown

It looks like a normal panorama of the Square Mile, but the view is something of a rarity.

No construction cranes. Not a single one rises over the main City cluster. In more than a quarter of a century of living in London, I can't remember that ever being the case.

This rare circumstance came about in the last week of September 2024, when the tower crane of the new One Leadenhall was dismantled. (It's the building just to the right of the sloping "Cheesegrater".) With that gone, nothing new is going up, and nothing old coming down in this bit of the Square Mile.

So is the City finished? Has London finally been completed?

Of course not. Were I to pan to the left or right, several cranes would be apparent, such as the works around Bankside Yards or the various projects on Fleet Street. Other parts of town like Canary Wharf and Old Oak Common are replete with cranes. But the original high-rise quarter along Bishopsgate is entirely free of major construction.

"Nobody wants towering office blocks any more. Everyone is working from home." That seems to be the common wisdom on social media. But the situation is more nuanced. According to CityAM, new leases on office space and construction of new office blocks are both running at near-record-breaking levels. That said, Canary Wharf has seen falling office demand. The business district plans to convert empty buildings into hotels.

City of london  skyline of the future
The shape of things to come? How the City might look in a few years if current projects are realised. © DBOX for Eric Parry Architects.

Assuming the market is on an upturn, then the Square Mile cluster won't stay crane-less for long. Three skyscrapers over 200 metres have been approved for construction. 100 Leadenhall, 55 Bishopsgate and 1 Undershaft would all slot into that crowded cluster (although the latter is currently undergoing a design review). Meanwhile, work has already begun on 50 Fenchurch Street, a not-inconsiderable tower at 150 metres, a little to the east of the cluster. Only small mobile cranes are on site at time of writing, but it won't be long before we see the core and tower cranes rise into the heavens.

So grab a photo while you can. London's skyline never stays still for long.