Arney Fender Katsalidis Architects project at 55 Bishopgate, near “The Gherkin”, has just been approved by the City of London for what will become one of the UK’s tallest skyscrapers. Now the final decision rests with the mayor, Sadiq Khan.
The idea is to demolish the current 20th-century building present at 55 Bishopsgate to offer offices to about 7 thousand employees of the City. If the skyscraper is built it will be the third largest in the City, with 63 floors, 935 feet high, and an area of 796.529 square feet. The project is expected to cost around £600 million, and construction work could begin in 2024, ending in 2029.
The ground floor, according to the functional scheme of the project, will be open to the public with spaces dedicated to pop-up stores, a cultural space, and a free-sky garden conservatory capable of hosting 300 visitors. The cultural space could potentially provide permanent accommodation at the London Center of New London Architecture, which exhibits scale models of the city. On the rooftop there will be an open panoramic platform, to offer a 360-degree view of London, and on the summit level a free public viewing gallery, both open to the public.