Planned City skyscraper 22 Bishopsgate taken down a notch over fears of plane crash risks
A new skyscraper planned for the City has had to knock a few floors off the top, over fears that cranes used to build it could pose a risk to flights over London.
New plans have been submitted to reduce 22 Bishopsgate's height by four floors, or 22m, according to Construction Enquirer, meaning the tower will now have 59 floors. The building will no longer feature a stepped top, but will have a flat roof.
There were concerns that cranes for the original construction would have interfered with flights arriving at and departing London City Airport.
The 22 Bishopsgate tower has already been beset by problems – earlier this year, the developers behind the skyscraper, Axa Investment Managers – Real Assets and Lipton Rogers, were locked in battle with neighbouring landlords over a right to light issue, a fight that was in the end won by the Axa-led consortium.
And 22 Bishopsgate was only created as a replacement for the ill-fated Pinnacle building – aka the Helter Skelter, due to its complex design – after the cost of the project brought construction to a halt as the financial crisis set in. The original design featured curved glass sections, rumoured to be priced at £1m per pane of glass.
The Pinnacle was abandoned at just seven storeys in 2011 when its previous owner ran out of money.
