The iconic City of London skyline will soon be unrecognisable as 11 new skyscrapers are set to go up before the end of the decade.
Despite the increase in hybrid working following the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for office space has risen in London’s financial district.
The number of planning applications received and decided has risen by 25% compared to the previous 12 months, from 820 to 1,023.
Pictured here are 11 new skyscrapers which are either under construction, have been approved, or have been resolved to be approved in the last year – which will completely change London’s skyline.
Currently, the tallest tower in the City is 22 Bishopsgate. It’s 278 metres tall and is thought to be the largest office building ever built in Britain.
But by 2030 it’s expected to be overtaken by 1 Undershaft – the architect’s redesign of three stacked buildings with terraces would make the project almost as tall as the Shard, the tallest building in London.
The number of people working in the capital’s financial district rose by 29,000 in 2021-22, according to Office for National Statistics figures released this week, taking the total to 615,000.
A number of firms in the City, including HSBC and Aviva, say their staff spend most of their working week in the office, while TfL tap-ins show the number of people travelling in has recovered to 85% of pre-Covid levels.
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The City of London Corporation said this increase had offset the impact of working from home, which led some firms to scale back their office space since the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.
The corporation is working on development proposals which would create more than 500,000 square metres of office space, with another 500,000 square metres of space already under construction.
Shravan Joshi, chair of the planning and transportation committee at the corporation, said there was room to build further towers to the east of the current cluster, and around Fleet Street, beyond 2030.
St Paul’s Cathedral, built in 1710, was London’s tallest building at 111 metres tall until it was overtaken in 1963 by the 118 metre tall Millbank Tower.
The BT Tower then took the throne in 1964, measuring 177 metres in height.
While several high-rise buildings were built in the capital during the 1960s and 70s, the first skyscraper was the NatWest Tower, now called Tower 42, which was completed in 1980 at 183 metres tall.
One Canada Square, the centrepiece of Canary Wharf, was completed in 1991 and measures 235 metres in height.
More skyscrapers were build during the noughties, but since 2010 the tallest London building has been The Shard, which is 309.6 metres tall.
As of last year, there are 121 buildings or structures in Greater London which are at least 100 metres tall, with 24 of those in the City of London and 27 in the Canary Wharf/Isle of Dogs area.
The top 10 tallest structures in London:
Where do some of London’s most famous and recognisable landmarks rank?
The Gherkin, built in 2003, stands at 180 metres tall.
20 Fenchurch Street, an office building which appears to be looking down at you, is 160 metres tall.
The London Eye is joint 55th place in the list of London’s tallest structures, reaching 135 metres in height.
Wembley Stadium is 133 metres tall, while the ArcelorMittal Orbit viewing platform built for the 2012 London Olympics is 115 metres tall.
Battersea Power Station is 113 metres tall, in joint 93rd place, while St Paul’s Cathedral has gone from being London’s tallest building to 96th place in the last 60 years.
He told The Guardian: ‘When you look at the macroeconomic picture, it doesn’t look too rosy, does it?
‘We’ve got a very young worker population in the City. Over 50% of our workers are under the age of 30.
‘These are people that want mentoring, they want to be back in the office, they are doing shifts and apprenticeships.’
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