A team led by US architecture firm SOM has been picked to design a brand new City of London tower which will be situated next to the Gherkin and Cheesegrater buildings.
The project will be funded by Hong Kong and will secure its own position in the increasingly crowded Square Mile skyline.
One source in the industry said that the tower design is still in its early stages but that it would be “quite tall.”
The tower will be situated between 100-112 Leadenhall Street, a row of buildings bought up in recent years by Far East investment specialist London & Oriental, acting on behalf of Hong Kong investor Lai Sun Development.
The site is opposite TH Real Estate’s planned Gotham City office development, designed by Make and also backs on to the Gherkin structure.
Other nearby towers include insurer WR Berkeley’s under construction Scalpel, British Land’s Cheesegrater, as well as planned skyscrapers at 6-8 Bishopsgate, 22 Bishopsgate, 1 Undershaft and 1 Leadenhall.
Via subsidiary companies, Lai Sun Developments purchased 106 Leadenhall for more than £21 million in December last year, while 1107-122 Leadenhall and 100 Leadenhall were bought for £60 million and £107 million respectively two years ago.
SOM’s links with London go back to the 1980s when the company worked on projects such as Exchange House and Broadgate Tower. The practice’s London office is in the Broadgate Tower, a short stroll for site visits.
Meanwhile, Damac’s new tower in Nine Elms will be built as part of a £200 million deal with Lendlease.
The property developer based in Dubai has signed the deal as a mark of confidence in the post-Brexit new build market.
The Aykon London One will be 50 floors tall, making it one of the capital’s tallest residential buildings when it is finished in 2020.
It sits in Nine Elms, on the south bank of the River Thames, which includes the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.
