Tall & Urban News

The City of London’s new tallest building, PLP’s Twentytwo tower, has reached its highest point.

The 62-story skyscraper for French investment manager AXA IM – Real Assets and development partner Lipton Rogers officially topped out at 278.2 meters.

The 118,451-square-meter building is now taller than any of its Square Mile neighbors, including Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ Cheesegrater (122 Leadenhall Street) which is 224 meters tall, and KPF’s Salesforce Tower (110 Bishopsgate) which is 230 meters tall.

However, it remains 27.8 meters shorter than Renzo Piano’s Shard across the Thames at London Bridge. It is also set to be exceeded by Eric Parry Architects’ 290-meter-tall 1 Undershaft, though this has yet to start construction.

Once complete, the 22 Bishopsgate office tower will house 12,000 workers, a fresh food market, a “well-being retreat and curated art walk,” and London’s highest free public viewing gallery. It will also feature what could be the fastest lifts in Europe.

The tower has a steel frame built around a central supporting concrete core.

According to the practice: “The floor slabs are composite with cellular steel beams, providing a diaphragm-action restraint to the perimeter columns. There are three column positions on either side of the core to act as outrigger lateral stability structures. These outriggers, contained within two plant room floors, are connected to the core through story-deep trusses. The lightweight concrete mixes have been poured higher than ever before in London, supplying 54 floors so far, and therefore exceeding the previous record in London of 50 floors at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf.”

For more on this story, go to Architect’s Journal (subscription required).