The tallest buildings in London

(Artist’s impression of the City in 2012, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_skyline_showing_planned_Bishopsgate_Tower.jpg)

The list of the highest structures of London includes and classify by height the tallest skyscrapers, buildings and structures in the City of London, the capital of the UK. The building that is currently the highest in the British capital is the skyscraper Shard London Bridge, completed in 2012, which reached 310 meters (1016 feet). Its size makes it the tallest building in the UK and Europe. The second is the One Canada Square, erected in 1991 in the business district of Canary Wharf. Its height is 235 meters (771 feet), placing it in the fifth place ranking of the highest buildings in Europe. The third tallest structure in the city is the Crystal Palace transmitter, built in 1950 and main distribution point of television to London. Nicknamed, in terms of its architectural form, the “London Eiffel Tower”, it rises to 222 meters (728 feet) high.

We can consider that the construction of large London architecture dates back to the eleventh century with the construction, in 1098, within the walls of the Tower of London, of the “White Tower”, with a height of 27 meters. The first London building to exceed the symbolic height of 100 meters is the old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, completed in 1310. Destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, it was 150 meters and was, for a year, Europe’s highest structure, before being surpassed in 1311 by Lincoln Cathedral, located in the city of Lincoln in England. She became again the highest structure in Europe when the tip of the Lincoln Cathedral collapsed in 1549. Despite the accidental destruction of the tip on June 4, 1561 by lightning, it remains the tallest structure in London, but the highest world structure is the Notre Dame Cathedral in the city of Strasbourg in France. After being destroyed in the great fire of 1666, the title of highest city structure returns to Southwark Cathedral, which is 50 meters high. No London architectural project will exceed 100 meters in height before the year 1710, year of completion of construction of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Peaking at 111 meters high, the cathedral will remain during 229 years the tallest structure of the capital, until the construction of the coal power plant Battersea Power Station in 1939.

Despite a long architectural history, London has seen only very late building skyscrapers, this situation is explained by legal restrictions governing the maximum height of buildings in the capital, to preserve the panorama of the city visible of St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and the palace of Westminster.

The consequence of this is the explosion in the 1960s of high-rise buildings where architectural restrictions were revised. One of the first skyscrapers built during this period is Centre Point, which displays 117 meters high and has 32 floors. Another important skyscraper is the NatWest Tower, built in the 1970s and inaugurated in 1980. With its 183 meters high, it is, by international standards, the first true skyscrapers in the city of London. The early 1990 will see the building of One Canada Square, Tower of 235 meters which is the architectural center of Canary Wharf. After a break of ten years, the London panorama will know a new boom in the early 2000s, with the construction of the towers 8 Canada Square, 25 Canada Square, buildings of Heron Quays, the headquarters of Barclays, the Broadgate tower and thr tower 30 St Mary Axe, winner of the 2003 Emporis Skyscraper award and the Stirling prize in 2004.

(The White Tower stood as the tallest structure in London from 1098 until 1310, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tower_of_London_White_Tower.jpg)

Lists

Skyscrapers

Rank	Name	Year	Use	Height (m)	Floors	Location
1	The Shard	2013	Offices	306	73	Southwark
2	110 Bishopsgate	2011	Offices	242	46	City of London
3	One Canada Square	1991	Offices	235	50	Canary Wharf
4	The Leadenhall Building	2014	Offices	225	48	City of London
5	25 Canada Square	2001	Offices	200	45	Canary Wharf
5	8 Canada Square	2002	Offices	200	45	Canary Wharf
7	Tower 42	1980	Offices	183	43	City of London
8	The Tower, One St George Wharf	2014	Offices	181	49	Lambeth
9	30 St Mary Axe	2003	Offices	180	41	City of London
10	The Broadgate Tower	2008	Offices	161	35	City of London
11	20 Fenchurch Street	2014	Offices	160	38	City of London
12	One Churchill Place	2004	Offices	156	32	Canary Wharf
13	South Bank Tower	1978	Offices	155	41	Southwark
14	40 Bank Street	2003	Offices	153	33	Canary Wharf
14	25 Bank Street	2003	Offices	153	33	Canary Wharf
16	10 Upper Bank Street	2003	Offices	151	32	Canary Wharf
17	Guy’s Tower	1974	Offices	149	34	Southwark
18	Strata SE1	2010	Residential	148	43	Southwark
19	Pan Peninsula East Tower	2008	Résidentiel	147	48	Tower Hamlets
20	The Landmark East Tower	2010	Résidentiel	137	44	Canary Wharf
21	25 Churchill Place	2014	Résidentiel	130	20	Canary Wharf
22	CityPoint	1967	Offices	127	36	City of London
23	Euston Tower	1970	Offices	124	36	Camden
24	Shakespeare Tower	1976	Résidentiel	123	43	City of London
24	Lauderdale Tower	1974	Résidentiel	123	43	City of London
24	Cromwell Tower	1973	Résidentiel	123	42	City of London
27	Pan Peninsula West Tower	2008	Résidentiel	122	39	Tower Hamlets
28	Millbank Tower	1963	Offices	119	33	City of Westminster
29	St. Helen’s	1969	Offices	118	28	City of London
30	Centre Point	1967	Résidentiel	117	35	Camden
30	Empress State Building	1961	Offices	117	31	Hammersmith and Fulham
32	Nido Spitalfields	2010	Résidentiel	112	34	Tower Hamlets
33	No.1 West India Quay	2004	Résidentiel	108	36	Canary Wharf
34	Shell Centre	1962	Offices	107	26	Lambeth
35	Ontario Tower	2007	Résidentiel	106	31	Tower Hamlets
36	33 Canada Square	1999	Offices	105	18	Canary Wharf
37	99 Bishopsgate	1976	Offices	104	26	City of London
38	125 Old Broad Street	1970	Offices	103	27	City of London
39	Portland House	1963	Offices	102	29	City of Westminster
40	The London Hilton on Park Lane	1963	Bureaux	101	29	City of Westminster

(Two other of the highest buildings in London, left Tower 42 (183 m) and right 30 St Mary Axe (180 m))

Other structures

No	Height (m)	Construction
1	Crystal Palace Transmitter (transmitter BBC)	222	1950
2	Croydon Transmitter (transmitter BBC)	153	1962
3	EDF Energy – London Eye	135	1999
4	Wembley Stadium	133	2005
5	Cathédrale Saint-Paul	112	1710
6	Victoria Tower (Westminster Palace)	102	1858

Comparison chart

(The tallest buildings in London, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_and_structures_in_London)

Future buildings

Name	Height (m)	Status
Bishopsgate Tower	288	Pending
Hertsmere Tower	242	Approved
Columbus Tower	237	Approved
Riverside South (Canary Wharf)	236	In construction
Minerva Building	217	Approved
Diamond Tower	220	Approved
Wood Wharf	200	Approved
City Tower One Nine Elms Vauxhall	200	Approved
20 Fenchurch Street	192	In construction
52-54 Lime Street	192	In construction
Wood Wharf	187	Approved
Wood Wharf	182	Approved
Morello Tower	172	Approved
Principal Place	163	Approved
Beetham Tower	163	In construction
Wood Wharf	154	Approved
Merchant Square Tower	150	Approved
Saffron Square	150	In construction
Baltimore Wharf	150	In construction
South Bank Tower	150	In construction
Crossharbour Tower	149	In construction
Manhattan Loft Gardens	143	Approved
Doon Street Tower	140	In construction
Providence Tower	136	In construction
One The Elephant	133	In construction
Lexicon	115	In construction

Other famous structures

Name	Height (m)	Construction
Trellick Tower	98	1972
Big Ben, palais de Westminster	96	1859
Lloyd’s building	95	1986
Dôme du millénaire	95	1999
Balfron Tower	84	1967
St Pancras railway station	82	1868
The London Ark	76	1992
OXO Tower	67	1900
Old Bailey	67	1907