Renzo Piano Building Workshop unveiled plans for yet another London skyscraper. Dezeen reports that the 734-foot, 65-story tower at 31 London Street will have offices, retail space, and room for 200 residential units. It will also have more than 40,000 sf of public space, along with rooftop gardens.
The development will cost around £1 billion (nearly $1.54 billion), and Piano is working with Sellar Property Group on the project.
The tower has earned the nickname “Skinny Shard,” which is a reference to a previous Renzo Piano project. The 1,016-foot The Shard opened in 2012 and has earned lots of praise. Unlike The Shard, which is thicker at the bottom and converges to a point on top, the 31 London Street building will be cylindrical.
Renzo Piano hopes that the new project will revitalize the Paddington Station, which is known for being desolate and dated. The development will improve connections between the station and the Bakerloo tube line.
"We believe this exciting proposal will tap into the potential of Paddington and will prove to be a major catalyst for the continuing enhancement of the area, in much the same way that The Shard did for London Bridge," said Sellar Property Group chairman Irvine Sellar in the Dezeen piece.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
HQ renovations aim for modern look
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ renovations to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New York City headquarters will feature a reworked reception lobby with back-painted glass, silk-screened logos, and a video wall.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 8, 2010
Union Bank’S San Diego HQ awarded LEED Gold
Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building located at 530 B Street has been awarded LEED Gold certification from the Green Building Certification Institute under the standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold status was awarded to six buildings across the United States in the most recent certification and Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building is one of only two in California.
| Sep 21, 2010
New BOMA-Kingsley Report Shows Compression in Utilities and Total Operating Expenses
A new report from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and Kingsley Associates shows that property professionals are trimming building operating expenses to stay competitive in today’s challenging marketplace. The report, which analyzes data from BOMA International’s 2010 Experience Exchange Report® (EER), revealed a $0.09 (1.1 percent) decrease in total operating expenses for U.S. private-sector buildings during 2009.
| Aug 11, 2010
New data shows low construction prices may soon be coming to an end
New federal data released recently shows sharp increases in the prices of key construction materials like diesel, copper and brass mill shapes likely foreshadow future increases in construction costs, the Associated General Contractors of America said. The new November producer price index (PPI) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provide the strongest indication yet that construction prices are heading up, the association noted.
