„ 100 Leadenhall Street is a new tower proposed for the Eastern Cluster, a high-rise district in the City of London. SOM designed the project to anticipate Leadenhall Street’s growing importance. The introduction of Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, into nearby Liverpool Street Station reinforces the role of Leadenhall Street as an essential artery into the city. As part of the area’s transformation, 100 Leadenhall Street will mark a new gateway to London.
More than a landmark on the skyline, the tower is designed to respect the city’s historic and contemporary urban context. SOM’s integrated team of architects and engineers worked closely with city planners to design an elegant, tapered silhouette that preserves key London vistas.
The design also takes advantage of the opportunity to enhance the public realm. To create more activity at street level, the proposed redevelopment prioritizes the streetscape and harmonizes with neighboring buildings. New pedestrian routes will make the site more permeable, connecting Leadenhall Street with Bury Street and St. Mary Axe. A new public space next to St. Andrew Undershaft will reveal a view of the church’s eastern facade for the first time in decades.
The tower’s limestone elevations at its base reflect the character of Leadenhall Street, which is predominantly lined with stone buildings. Above the podium, the tower rises from a hexagonal plan and tapers to a four-sided crown at 56 stories. The design of the facade enriches the simple geometric forms of the building with a complex, three-dimensional pattern of interlocking diamonds. Gradual changes in light and shadow animate the textured facade of this elegant addition to the London skyline.“
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has unveiled plans to overhaul its design for a 260-m tall London skyscraper to boost its sustainability credentials amid growing demand from occupiers for low-carbon office space, Building Design reports. “The Diamond” was originally approved in 2018, but the practice has been sent back to the drawing board with a revised brief by developers Frontier Dragon. The new proposals keep the basic form, mass and architectural character of the tower but offer a “significant reduction” in operational energy and embodied carbon while delivering “improved amenities [and] public access.” Major changes include the addition of a vertical strip of air vents added to the side of the tower’s glass and steel facade to reduce operational energy usage, switching from the current design for horizontal bands of vents. SOM said this will allow the MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) systems for ventilation on each floor to be significantly smaller, with the new systems relying on ambient temperatures for around 80% of the year. The floorplates have been simplified to reduce the amount of concrete and steel, at the cost of adding more columns. The tower’s core has also been rotated by 90 degrees, “greatly improving” its efficiency in resisting wind pressure and allowing less steel to be used and the size of the core to be reduced. An amended planning application for the 57-story office building at 100 Leadenhall Street has been submitted to the City of London Corp. and is understood to be penciled in for a decision in January. When completed, it will be the city’s third-tallest building
