(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 |
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