Broadgate Tower

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This article or section contains information about a building currently under construction.
It may contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as construction progresses and new information becomes available.

The Broadgate Tower under construction, February 2007.

The Broadgate Tower is a skyscraper currently under construction in London's main financial district, the City of London. Adjacent to the tower is a smaller building at 201 Bishopsgate, which also forms part of the development.

When completed in 2008, the tower will be 165 metres tall, making it the 3rd tallest building in the City after Tower 42 (the former Natwest Tower) and 30 St Mary Axe. Built at an estimated cost of £240 million, the tower will have 35 floors and the neighbouring 201 Bishopsgate is attached via a new public plaza. The development as a whole marks the next major phase of construction in the Broadgate estate that began in the 1980s to provide desperately needed high-spec office space for the City of London.

The Broadgate Tower has been designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and developed by British Land. It utilises air-rights in the form of sitting on a large construction raft that has been built over the entrance to Liverpool Street Station. One notable feature will be the first ever double-decker lifts to be used in the United Kingdom.

As the tower lies over major train lines heading into Liverpool Street, groundwork took longer than would normally be expected for a tower of this size. However, the steel core has the advantage of a quicker finish than a concrete core, and the two buildings will be rising throughout 2007 in time for scheduled completion in 2008. When complete, it will be the 7th highest building in London (3rd tallest in the City of London) and the first skyscraper to be built in London in over 3 years.