London City Hall has approved a plan to build a 73-story skyscraper in the business district.
Its height will be the same as the tallest building in Western Europe, called The Shard, located one kilometer further south, reports CNN.
The project was officially named 1 Undershaft. In 2016, the developer received permission to build a slightly smaller tower, but it never got off the ground. To build the tower, another building would have to be demolished, which environmentalists criticized.
If the 309.6-meter high skyscraper is built, it will house offices, children’s education areas on the 72nd and 73rd floors and a kindergarten. According to the sketch, the building will contain 154,156 square feet.
Urban activists complain that London’s cityscape is increasingly cluttered with the same kind of glass and metal towers that make historic landmarks seem small. For example, St Paul’s Cathedral is located in the business district, where there are many tall buildings and where the construction of a new building is being prepared.
London’s office property market has been hit hard by rising rental costs and an increase in the number of people working from home after the pandemic, although demand for premium space has remained very high, CNN notes.
