Renzo Piano Building Workshop unveiled plans for yet another London skyscraper. Dezeen reports that the 734-foot, 65-story tower at 31 London Street will have offices, retail space, and room for 200 residential units. It will also have more than 40,000 sf of public space, along with rooftop gardens.
The development will cost around £1 billion (nearly $1.54 billion), and Piano is working with Sellar Property Group on the project.
The tower has earned the nickname “Skinny Shard,” which is a reference to a previous Renzo Piano project. The 1,016-foot The Shard opened in 2012 and has earned lots of praise. Unlike The Shard, which is thicker at the bottom and converges to a point on top, the 31 London Street building will be cylindrical.
Renzo Piano hopes that the new project will revitalize the Paddington Station, which is known for being desolate and dated. The development will improve connections between the station and the Bakerloo tube line.
"We believe this exciting proposal will tap into the potential of Paddington and will prove to be a major catalyst for the continuing enhancement of the area, in much the same way that The Shard did for London Bridge," said Sellar Property Group chairman Irvine Sellar in the Dezeen piece.
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