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| Bishopsgate Tower |
Address: London, United Kingdom
Floor count: 64
Bishopsgate Tower:
The Pinnacle (formerly the Bishopsgate Tower) is a skyscraper whose construction began in 2008 but is currently on hold subject to re-designing, in London's main financial district, the City of London. Work started on the site at 22-24 Bishopsgate in September 2008 but has stalled since March 2012 with only the
concrete core of the first seven storeys built.
At a planned height of 288 m (945 ft), the Pinnacle was expected to become the tallest building in the City of London area and the second-tallest in both the United Kingdom and the European Union, after the 310 m (1,020 ft) Shard, also in London.
The Economic Development Corporation of Saudi Arabia and its development manager Arab Investments is part-funding the construction in return for a 90% stake in the structure. However, the project was put on hold due to a lack of additional funding and letting commitments, leaving the future of the Pinnacle as the City's tallest skyscraper in doubt. The project will now be re-designed.
History of Bishopsgate Tower:
The architects of the Pinnacle are Kohn Pedersen Fox and the developer is the fund management company Union Investment Real Estate AG. The tower was originally proposed at 307 metres (1,007 ft), but scaled down to 288 metres (945 ft) following concerns from the Civil Aviation Authority.[3][unreliable source?] This scaled-down design would have provided 88,000 square metres (947,200 sq ft) of office space and made it the second-tallest building in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The Bishopsgate Tower, as it was initially called, was submitted for planning permission in June 2005 and approved in April 2006.
The twisting design of its roof and the curling patterns in the facade were based on various organic forms in nature such as armadillos, mushrooms and seashells, and led to the building being nicknamed the Helter Skelter. The upper floors were planned to contain restaurants and the second-largest public viewing deck in the UK, behind the Shard's.
The Pinnacle's original design also provided more solar panelling than any other building in the country, with 2,000 square metres (21,500 sq ft) of photovoltaic cells, generating up to 200 kW of electricity. It would have also had a double-layered skin like the nearby gherkin-shaped 30 St. Mary Axe, allowing it to respond dynamically to climatic changes and to utilise effective climate control with low energy consumption. To keep construction costs down, every panel on the tower would be of exactly the same size.
In August 2006, Keltbray began test piling on site. Demolition began on the smaller of the two existing buildings in November 2006. In February 2007, it was confirmed that the Bishopsgate Tower had been purchased by Arab Investments and that the structure would be renamed as the Pinnacle.
In May 2007, it was confirmed that full funding had been secured and that the Pinnacle was likely to be built speculatively. In June 2007, demolition began on Crosby Court, the larger of the two existing buildings on the site.
In August 2007, Arab Investments signed a pre-construction contract with Multiplex to build the tower......Wikipedia >>
