Talk:List of tallest buildings and structures in London

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1 Opening Paragraphs
2 Skylon
3 100m
4 Palace of Westminster
5 Trellick Tower
6 Post Office Tower
7 What is tall? What is London? What is a building?
8 H and B
9 Hyde Park Barracks
10 187 Green Bird

[edit] Opening Paragraphs

"London has limits to building heights because of protected views of certain buildings from particular locations (notably St Paul's). Until the early 1960s buildings in London were restricted to 100 feet (30 metres) in height, although there were some exceptions to this rule. This restriction was put in place in order to keep every floor of a building in reach of the fire brigade's ladders ^{[^{citation needed]}}. The lifting of the height restriction caused a boom in the building of tall buildings during the 1960s. Most prominent of these was the Post Office (now BT) Tower, built as a microwave relay station.

London's first skyscraper was the NatWest Tower (now Tower 42), completed in 1980 and standing 182m tall. It was followed in 1991 by One Canada Square which was 235m and formed the centrepiece of the Canary Wharf development. Following another 10 year gap, several new skyscrapers appeared on London's skyline - 8 Canada Square, 25 Canada Square, the Heron Quays buildings, the Barclays headquarters and the award-winning 30 St Mary Axe."

The point made in the first paragraph needs to be referenced: eveything I've read suggests that it was aesthetic considerations, specifically the reaction against the fourteen-floor Queen Anne Mansions (where Basil Spence's 50 Queen Anne's Gate now stands) that prompted the 100ft height limit. The second is flagrant nonsense; what about Centrepoint, the Barbican towers and any number of 1960's and 1970's housing and office blocks? FrFintonStack 18:22, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

It seems like you're the one who's talking "flagrant nonsense". A skyscraper is widely acknowledged as being a minimum of 150m. Ask any of the 60,000 members of SkyscraperCity.com, the biggest forum on the Internet for skyscraper enthusiasts. Centrepoint and the Barbican Towers are not skyscrapers - they are just midrises by comparison - and to suggest that 60's and 70's housing blocks are "skyscrapers" is frankly ludicrous. The NatWest Tower was an absolutely MASSIVE advance in terms of height for London, and it completely redefined the City skyline. It was the first building in London to be considered tall by international standards, and it was 25 years before anything in Central London even came close to challenging it. Wjfox2005 10:43, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the opening personal insult. I am aware that the minumum for a skyscraper is currently regarded as 150m. However, this has not always been the case, and the buildings listed above did meet the conventions of what was regarded as a skyscraper at the time at which they were constructed. By architectural convention, Centrepoint is regarded as London's first skyscraper; ask the ghost of Nicklaus Pevsner. Ask 100 people if Centrepoint or the Barbican towers are skyscrapers and I wonder what answer you'll receive. And why is the idea that housings blocks can be skyscrapers ludricous? The idea that goalpost shifting causes previous tall buildings to cease being "the first" skyscrapers is absurd: will NatWest cease to be London's first skyscraper as buildings rise higher and higher? FrFintonStack 02:45, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Skylon

Should probably mention the Skylon (can't remember how tall that was) and the Millennium Dome, which is about 300m I think.

[edit] 100m

Both the Skylon and Millennium Dome were/are apparently under 100m (300ft, not metres), which seemed like a good cut-off point - I also avoided buildings that no-longer exist (one could count the old st pauls at 168m). If you feel the dome deserves a mention I think the height is 95m (according to skyscrapers.com, from where the other information came for consistency). Ed g2s 22:47, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Let's not make 100m a rule for other cities, though. Chigago would end up with 219 and New York some 450 entries. Rmhermen 02:57, Aug 22, 2003 (UTC)

Er..the masts of the millennium dome are 300 ft tall (yes silly of me to put metres, earlier). BTW a limit of 100m cuts of the Lloyd's building. Mintguy 08:25, 22 Aug 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster (or St. Stephen's Tower) should really be here. It's probably the most famous building in London, and it's 99m tall. - Efghij 03:01, Aug 22, 2003 (UTC)

Be bold ;-) Fantasy 08:00, 22 Aug 2003 (UTC)

The Palace of Westminster includes Victoria Tower at the other end which is over 100m (and seeing it every day - I'd have to say more impressive), one could however add a separate section for other famous tall buildings for cases such as the Millennium Dome, St. Stephen's Tower and any other cases you can think of.

Ed g2s 15:16, 22 Aug 2003 (UTC)

well the palace of westminster heights for this site are wrong. the ones on emporis are wrong. i know this because i actually checked with the seargant of arms office. the victoria tower is 98.5m to roof and 120.8m to the flag pole. that makes it UNDER 100m.

[edit] Trellick Tower

I removed trellick tower (98m) from other famous buildings, and the section is for buildings just under 100m that warrant a mention due to their significant (often international) fame, which Trellick Tower doesn't have (IMHO). Ed g2s 16:47, 10 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I think YHO is wrong. Trellick tower does have significant fame. It is a listed building after all. It was designed by the internationally famous architect by Erno Goldfinger. It is held in high regard by fans of modern architecture. It is probably the most famous tall building outside of the centre of London. It is certainly the most famous residential tall building in Britain. Mintguy 17:52, 10 Sep 2003 (UTC)

I still think its fame is not comparable to the others in the list - but I suppose it doesn't hurt to be there if you insist. Ed g2s 12:56, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Post Office Tower

Why is the tallest building in London (and Grade 2 listed) not on here? (619 feet, according to our friends at the BBC. Completed 1965.)

And why is all this in a table with the numbers hard-coded? Vicki Rosenzweig 13:26, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Er... The BT Tower (as it is now known) is on the list (although the date is wrong (maybe a bit was added to its height in 1980). Not quite sure what you mean about hard-coded numbers. Mintguy 16:30, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)

...and at 619ft it is not the tallest building :) (again... hard-coded??) Ed g2s 23:00, 11 Sep 2003 (UTC)

If, by hard-coded, you mean the rankings in the tables, well, there's no other way of doing it (in HTML, at least); the table element is not compatable with being muxed with an ordered list element...

BTW, Google seems to think that "619 feet = 188.6712 meters"...

James F. 13:44, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

The OXO Tower is not very tall by modern standards, but was once considered tall - in the early 1900s. Does anyone know its height? David Martland 17:28, 3 Oct 2003 (UTC)

About 67m / 200ft, so not really tall but fairly famous.

Ed g2s 17:59, 4 Oct 2003 (UTC)

I see Drapers Gardens is listed but not the nearby 1 Angel Court which is about the same height.

One Angel Court is 94m which is less than the 100m limit (we have to draw the line somewhere!)

Ed g2s 14:32, 31 Oct 2003 (UTC)

[edit] What is tall? What is London? What is a building?

Under the heading "Other Famous Tall Buildings" the Old Bailey and the OXO tower (both at 67m) are mentioned. I can understand the OXO tower being there, as, regardless of its measured height, being a thin tower in a fairly flat area, it appears tall. The Central Criminal Court at Old Bailey is surrounded by taller buildings, and is mostly the same height all over. Would we list every famous building >6 storeys here?

Clearly this is not just a list of tall buildings in the City of London, Millbank Tower, Euston Tower, Post Office Tower and others are all outside The City. Both Battersea and Bankside Power stations are taller than 100m (I think). Are they excluded because their height comes from an uninhabited part of the structure? If so, what is the limit on this? The Post Office tower is essentially a radio mast full of switching equipment, and the top 40m of 1 Canada Square is uninhabited, making it shorter than its two neighbours.

[edit] H and B

What do the letters 'H' and 'B' in square brackets in the list represent? Shouldn't there be a key somewhere if things like this are included?

Must remember to sign in if I'm not at home... sheridan 08:13, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

On the list of current tallest buildings, there is a key underneath.

"[U] Under construction.

[C] Part of the Canary Wharf Complex.

[B] Part of the Barbican Estate.

[H] Part of the Heron Quays Complex." Marky-Son 11:59, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hyde Park Barracks

According to the Wiki article, this building is just short of 100m, but it dominates the skyline south of Hyde Park. Is it worth a mention in other buildings?