Gherkin bought by Safra Group: Meet the Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire behind the £700m deal November 10, 2014 The City's iconic Gherkin has been snapped up for more than £700m by the Safra Group, the investment giant controlled by Brazilian-Lebanese billionaire Joseph Safra. Safra, which last month won a $682m (£430m) takeover battle for banana group Chiquita, said yesterday it had agreed to buy the 590-foot tower at 30 St Mary’s [...]
Gherkin sold: Safra Group buys one of London’s tallest buildings 30 St Mary Axe November 10, 2014 Brazilian investment group Safra is to buy the City’s iconic Gherkin skyscraper from receivers Deloitte, the two firms announced this morning. Deloitte’s real estate arm and Savills was appointed to sell 30 St Mary’s Axe this summer after its previous owners Evans Randall and German firm IVG failed to strike a restructuring deal over its [...]
What are the tallest buildings in London? How the Pinnacle will measure up against neighbouring towers November 7, 2014 This week it emerged work on the Pinnacle may finally begin again after four years. With its eye-catching “Helter Skelter” design rising 63 storeys – about 945ft – the Pinnacle was going to be the tallest tower in the Square Mile (although it will never quite match up to the Shard’s 1,014ft). But work [...]
Towers of Terror: Cheesegrater and five other London skyscrapers that are trying to kill you November 6, 2014 London can be a treacherous place. And not just because of the crime or the poverty or the grinding working hours. London's skyscrapers are trying to kill you. All of you. Yesterday we heard the alarming news that part of a steel bolt had fallen off the Cheesegrater, crashing to the ground – [...]
Cheesegrater skyscraper steel bolts broken and area is cordoned off to the public, says British Land November 5, 2014 British Land has revealed that two steel bolts each a metre in length have come unstuck at London's Cheesegrater skyscraper, and the building has been cordoned off to pedestrians. One part of one of the bolts fell to the ground at the side of the building but thankfully the area where it hit was already [...]
The Stump is dead: Here’s everything we know about The Pinnacle, London’s next skyline-altering tower November 3, 2014 So the Pinnacle, the London skyscraper that never was, looks like it might finally be built. The tower, on Bishopsgate in the City of London, was nicknamed "the Helter Skelter" because of its twisty design at the top, but met an undignified fate when its developer, Brookfield Multiplex, was forced to abandon work on it [...]
Cheesegrater sets sky high city price record October 30, 2014 THE CHEESEGRATER, or the Leadenhall Building as it is officially known, has set a new price record for the City of London at £85 per square foot. US insurance firm FM Global is reported to have paid that price to take the 7,700 square foot 41st floor of the 47-storey tower.
Cheesegrater office letting smashes City record October 30, 2014 A letting at newly-completed skyscraper the Leadenhall Building – known to its friends as the Cheesegrater – has set a new price record for the City of London. Industry magazine Property Week reported today that US-based insurance firm FM Global is understood to have agreed a deal to take the 7,700 sq ft 41st floor [...]
Battersea Power Station’s “Flower” building, Electric Boulevard and Battersea Roof Gardens designed by Frank Gehry and Norman Foster will join the London skyline by 2020 October 17, 2014 The third phase of development at Battersea Power Station has been given the go ahead by Wandsworth council, including a thumbs up to two new stunning buildings designed by famous architechts Frank Gehry and Norman Foster. Phase three of the scheme to regenerate the area around the power station includes the creation of a pedestrian [...]
Riba Stirling Prize 2014: London loses out to Liverpool as The Shard, London Aquatics Centre and LSE’s Saw Swee Hock Student Centre fail to win top architecture award October 17, 2014 Three of London’s most exciting new buildings have lost out on winning the biggest prize in British architecture. The Riba Stirling Prize, architecture’s most prestigious award, has been scooped by the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, trumping The Shard, The London Aquatics Centre and the London School of Economics’ Saw Swee Hock Student Centre in the [...]