Willis Building (London)

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For the Grade I Listed building in Ipswich, see Willis Building (Ipswich).

Information
The Willis Building

Location	51 Lime Street, City of London, England
Status	Complete
Constructed	2004-2008
Roof	125 metres (410 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	26
Floor area	475,000 square feet (44,128.9 m²)
Companies
Architect	Sir Norman Foster
Contractor	Mace

The Willis Building at 51 Lime Street, is a large office tower in London's main financial district, the City of London.

Designed by architect Sir Norman Foster and developed by British Land, it stands opposite the Lloyd's building and is 125 metres (410 ft) tall, with 26 storeys. The building features a "stepped" design, which was intended to resemble the shell of a crustacean, with setbacks rising at 97 m (318 ft) and 68 m (223 ft) respectively. In total, there are 475,000 square feet (44,128.9 m²) of office floorspace, most of which was pre-let to the Willis Group, a risk management company and insurance intermediary.

Constructed between 2004 and 2008 under the management of Mace,^[1] it was a significant addition to the London skyline, becoming the fourth tallest building in the City after Tower 42, 30 St Mary Axe and CityPoint. The core was topped out in July 2006 and the steelwork was finished in September 2006. Cladding began in July 2006 and the building was externally completed by June 2007. It was internally fitted out and officially opened in April 2008.

51 Lime Street is the first in a wave of new towers planned for the area. These others include the Bishopsgate Tower, 122 Leadenhall Street, Heron Tower, 100 Bishopsgate, 20 Fenchurch Street, Broadgate Tower and the Shard of Glass.