Sky's the limit in London! [Archive]

Brown, Jon Brow

6th February 2007, 14:07

:s tareup:

Compared to other major cities in the world, Londons skyline appears to lack the high rised skyscrapers.

This was mainly due to planning restrictions in the city. But since the arrival of the tall Canary Warf development in the 1990's, many businesses have left the city (to go to Canary Warf)

Now the restriction has been removed and we can see a boom of 1000ft skyscrapers in the city over the next decade.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_buildings_and_structures_in_London

PICTURE REMOVED AS IT'S FAR TOO BIG FOR THE THREAD

Do you think this is a good idea. Or will it ruin London's old historic landmarks?

I'm think it looks brilliant :up:

BDunnell

6th February 2007, 14:10

Skyscrapers can be extremely impressive — look at La Defense in Paris for a good example. However, they can also dominate the area around them to too great an extent. It all depends on whether the authorities are sensible when it comes to giving planning permission.

LotusElise

6th February 2007, 14:15

London has a fair few tall buildings, old and new, already, so I think they'll look great as long as the design is good. A really giant "gherkin" building would be an impressive sight.

Brown, Jon Brow

6th February 2007, 15:12

Here are some renderings of the proposed new buildings

Mark

6th February 2007, 15:14

I've had to remove the pictures,, again. Please make them smaller before posting.

Mark

Brown, Jon Brow

6th February 2007, 15:41

Here are some renderings of the proposed new buildings

Third time lucky :p

http://www.cabe.org.uk/AssetLibrary/4132.jpg

http://justinberzon.com/BishopsgateTower.jpg

Dave B

6th February 2007, 16:35

Skyscrapers can look impressive, but look at the Canary Wharf area for an example of getting it wrong.

The original 1 Canada Square building is certainly impressive, but the close proximity of the HSBC and Barclays buildings ruin its impact.

Sometimes I'm not sure if these buildings aren't simply massive ego trips for the architects and companies concerned. The ultimate penis extension.

Also I'm concerned that this particular corner of London doesn't really need thousands more commuters pouring in. The public transport network is close to capacity, and there are concerns over water supplies in the capital.

There are plenty of cities which need investment - Manchester's already getting a media village, supercasino etc - so one has to question whether London is the best place for more skyscrapers.

tin-top fan

6th February 2007, 16:52

oily oaf

6th February 2007, 20:11

in a few years the tallest building in London will be the shard of glass: at 310 metres it will be 75m higher than Canary Warf ( currently the highest building in the capital),

http://www.shardlondonbridge.com/

If you look at the view from the top of the shard photo you can see my back garden :)

It's the one with the outside toilet :(

jonas_mcrae

6th February 2007, 20:18

looks good

BrentJackson

6th February 2007, 20:24

London has such a traffic problem that I must wonder if bigger skyscrapers are a good idea. Seems like every city has such a buidling boom - Toronto has built literally hundreds of condo towers in the last decade or so.

schmenke

6th February 2007, 21:00

Downtown Calgary soon to be home to the tallest building in Canada :mark:

BrentJackson

6th February 2007, 21:10

Downtown Calgary soon to be home to the tallest building in Canada :mark:

Is it taller than 1,815 feet? That's how tall the CN tower is. And Toronto's biggest office building (the BMO Bank of Montreal Tower) is the tallest office tower outside of NY and Chicago in North America at 74 stories. It has two close counterparts - Scotia Place (69 stories) and BCE Place (62 stories).

As fast as Calgary is growing, Toronto is growing faster (GTA population 5.7 million, growing by 1600 a week, expected anywhere from 8 million to 11 million by 2040) and I don't think Cowtown is gonna top the big T.O.

LotusElise

6th February 2007, 21:28

I do agree about that part of London not needing any more traffic. There are other areas which would probably benefit more too.

In the plans beind those renders, what are they intending to do about the buildings that are already on that spot? Some of them must be listed and a lot of them are pretty big as well.

LeonBrooke

7th February 2007, 06:40

I have to break with the majority and say that I think cities with a mix of old buildings and new buildings look silly. I like more continuity, so either all old or all new.

Storm

7th February 2007, 08:45

I agree with Leon upto an extent....Not to say that skyscrapers don't look great..just the sight of Petronas Towers in KL of the skyline of Shanghai are great, but the charm of London lies in its history and its architecture and I liked the city because of all its old buildings.

I think London already has a fair bit of new stylish stuff , the bullet/gherkin and the City Hall are examples. More skyscrapers and it gets dull quite fast.

Say if I have to choose at looking at St Paul's cathedral out my window or any generic downtown in North America its obvious what my choice would be :)

CarlMetro

7th February 2007, 09:57

There are plenty of cities which need investment - Manchester's already getting a media village, supercasino etc - so one has to question whether London is the best place for more skyscrapers.

I agree but sadly those who build and those who work in them do not. There is still the prestige attached to London and, no matter what gets built elsewhere, it is the financial and business capital of our country.

I've been involved in many of the large projects over the years and can say that the vast majority of large buildings are built for a particular client rather than being built purely for speculative purposes, which is the main reasoning behind accommodation construction.

@ LotusElise - The existing structures are demolished but none of the would be listed buildings. It is simply not possible to remove a listed building.

Brown, Jon Brow

7th February 2007, 10:05

Manchester is also having a bit of a building boom with high-rises going up.

Here is the new Beetham Tower

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h126/oklol_2006/C_17_Articles_215533_BodyWeb_Detail.jpg

and there is more planned.

Personally I like tall buildings that are attractive and well designed, like the Gherkin. However I hate boring blocks that went up in many towns in the 1960's

Caroline

7th February 2007, 18:17

Manchester's skyline looks most odd to me. With the new Beetham Tower standing alone, much much higher than anything else. However I am not sure just how much building work has been planned and the scale of it all, and whether in 10 years time it will fit in with others to come. The photo above doesn't really show you how prominent (out of place?) it looks on the skyline.

As for London, I like the mix of old and new and as Storm says, people like the history of it all. Sir Norman Foster's buildings are fantastic and I feel that he gets the balance of modernity and sympathy to the surroundings just right. Skyscrapers are cool but they are not for every city.

Hotbikerchic33

7th February 2007, 18:21

Third time lucky :p

http://www.cabe.org.uk/AssetLibrary/4132.jpg

http://justinberzon.com/BishopsgateTower.jpg

Great photos i was we had views like that here!!! :D

oily oaf

7th February 2007, 18:38

schmenke

7th February 2007, 18:42

Is it taller than 1,815 feet? That's how tall the CN tower is. And Toronto's biggest office building (the BMO Bank of Montreal Tower) is the tallest office tower outside of NY and Chicago in North America at 74 stories. It has two close counterparts - Scotia Place (69 stories) and BCE Place (62 stories)...

Oops, you're right Brent. I checked and the future EnCana Tower (247m tall) will be the tallest building in Western Canada (I guess that means the tallest West of the centre-of-the-universe, er, I mean Toronto :uhoh: )

I don't consider the CN Tower a building :mark:

Brown, Jon Brow

7th February 2007, 19:55

Why there are not many new tall buildings in the center od London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhF_510EnZk

And a new tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gshexbkiviQ&mode=related&search=

Daniel

8th February 2007, 10:02

Perhaps it's just the fact that to me it was my home for 22 years but I like the skyline of Perth

http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/australia/perth/perth-skyline-fom-swan-river.jpg

Although I wish it actually looked like this :p

http://www.grandeye.com.hk/gallery/Mw%20&%20Perth%20SkylineL.jpg

BrentJackson

8th February 2007, 16:02

Oops, you're right Brent. I checked and the future EnCana Tower (247m tall) will be the tallest building in Western Canada (I guess that means the tallest West of the centre-of-the-universe, er, I mean Toronto :uhoh: )

I don't consider the CN Tower a building :mark:

Tallest in Western Canada is a good way of saying. That would be pretty close to the tallest in the Western half of North America. I don't think the First Interstate Library Tower (Los Angeles, CA), Torre LatinAmericano (Mexico City), or the Boeing Center and Columbia Seafirst Center (Seattle, WA) are 247m tall.

And hey, I do not get why people make comments about Toronto being the center of the universe. It's the biggest city in Canada of course, and I like it a lot (being in Seattle right now I get some perspective) but it ain't the center of the world.