SOM-designed 100 Leadenhall Street will be one of the tallest buildings in the U.K.
By David Malone, Associate Editor
At 263.4 meters Above Ordnance Datum (AOD), the new SOM-designed 100 Leadenhall Street will be one of the tallest towers in the City of London*, or all of London, for that matter. The new tower will provide over 1.3 million sf GEA of office-led development in the City of London’s eastern cluster.
The building will use a tapered form to ensure the views of St Paul’s Cathedral from Fleet Street and other key London views are not negatively impacted. The exterior facade will use a diamond glazing pattern, but limestone elevations at the building’s base will visually connect the new tower to the surrounding buildings, which are predominantly stone.
Courtesy SOM.
New retail spaces will be provided at the ground level with new pedestrian routes linking Leadenhall Street to St Mary Axe and Bury Street. Three new public spaces are also included in the design: an open courtyard on the south entrance, and new open space at the north entrance that links to the wider public realm network and reinstates the churchyard to the east of the adjoining Grade I listed St Andrew Undershaft, which provides the third new public space in the form of an additional 10,000 sf of open space.
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A double height lobby will allow access from the north and south and a separate entry will provide direct access to a freely accessible viewing gallery that offers 360° views at Level 55 and a three storey view to the south, east, and west at Level 56.
100 Leadenhall Street was awarded planning consent by committee on July 10th. This follows from the planning submission in January 2018 after SOM won a design competition for the project in 2016.
*If you are curious about how the City of London differs from London, watch the short video below.