London's Ten Tallest Structures

  

Found below are the ten tallest structures situated in the United Kingdom’s capital city London. 

1) 32, LONDON BRIDGE / THE SHARD

Although better known as the Shard, London’s tallest building is officially known as 32, London Bridge.

The Shard, which was completed in May of 2012, is not only London’s tallest building but the tallest building in the United Kingdom and the tallest building in Europe.

The building has ninety five floors and stands 998 feet / 309 meters high, but is actually 1,012 feet high if you take in it's fourteen foot high antenna.

Although most of us think the shard looks like a shard of glass, the building's designers Italian architect Renzo Piano and British architect Richard Rogers, actually liken their structure to an iceberg..

Construction took just three years and was financed by a group of Qatari investors.

2) ONE, CANADA SQUARE / CANARY WHARF TOWER

Situated in Canary Wharf in London's Docklands the fifty floors of this 771 foot / 235 meter high tower were both London and the United Kingdom's tallest building from the time of it's completion in 1991 until it was surpassed by the the Shard in 2010. 

The tower was designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli and was took just three years to construct between 1988 until 1991.

The building is owned by the London based Canary Wharf Group plc, which gives the tower it’s nickname despite the facts that there are several other high rise towers situated in Canary Wharf, and houses both offices and retail businesses. 

The building is easy to spot within the London skyline owing to it’s unusual pyramid shaped pinnacle.

3) 110, BISHOPSGATE / THE HERON TOWER

Situated in the financial district of the City of London and named after it's owners the United Kingdom property developers Heron International, the forty six floors of this 756 foot / 230 meter high tower were designed by the New York City group of architects Kohn Pederson Fox. 

Construction began on the building in 2007 and it became the tallest structure in the City of London upon it's completion in 2011. 

The building is used solely as a commercial venture.

4) 122, LEADENHALL STREET / THE CHEESEGRATER 

Situated at 122, Leadenhall Street in the City of London, this 748 foot / 225 meter high office block became London’s fourth highest building upon it’s completion in 2014.

The building, which gets it’s nickname from it’s resemblence to a popular kitchen utensil, was designed by British archtects Rojers Stirk Harbour & Partners.

The building, which is the second tallest in the City of London, houses forty eight storeys of prime office space. 

5) CRYSTAL PALACE TRANSMITTER

This free standing transmitter is a broadcasting and telecommunications tower situated in the South London Borough of Bromley. 

At 720 feet / 219 meters high, this steele truss tower, which bares a slight resemblance to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, was completed in 1956 and was London's tallest structure for over thirty years until the completion of One Canada Square in 1991.  

6) EIGHT, CANADA SQUARE / HSBC TOWER

Yet another Docklands structure is the 655 foot / 200 meter high tower, also known as the HSBC Tower after the banking company which owns it, situated on Canada Square in Canary Wharf.

This forty two storey building was designed by British architects, Sir Norman Foster & Partners, and was constructed between 1997 and 2002.

The building houses the offices of the global headquarters of the banking group HSBC. 

6) TWENTY FIVE, CANADA SQUARE / CITIGROUP CENTRE

Also known as the Citigroup Centre this iconic Canary Wharf  tower has forty two floors and stands 655 feet / 200 meters high. 

Designed by British architects Sir Norman Foster & Partners the tower took four years to construct between 1998 and 2002.

The building has become an iconic London landmark owing to the logo of it's owners, banking group CitiBank, which is situated at the top of the building. The logo can be seen for miles around, especially at night when it’s bright red neon lights are switched on.

The building is renowned for being joint fifth, along with Tower 42, in London’s line up of tallest buildings.  

8) TOWER 42 / NATWEST TOWER

Also known as the NatWest Tower after the British banking company which own it, this forty seven storey tower stands 600 foot / 183 meters high and comes in as joint fifth, along with 25 Canada Square, in London’s line up of tallest buildings. 

The tower was designed by Swiss born architect Richard Seifert and was nine years in it’s construction between 1971 and1980. 

The building of the tower saw much controversy when it was originally designed in the early 1960’s owing to the planned demolition of a nineteenth century bank which stood on the site of the new build. 

Upon it’s completion the building became the first modern skyscraper in the ancient City of London and remained the city’s tallest building for thirty years until the completion of the Heron Tower in 2011. 

 9) ST GEORGE WHARF TOWER / VAUXHALL TOWER

This fifty storey, residentail tower located along London’s Nine Elm’s Lane in Vauxhall stands 594 feet / 181 meters high.

The building is unique for having a catherine wheel shaped floor design, for having a wind turbine located at it’s pinnacle and for housing London’s highest swimming pool.

The building, which contains 233 apartments, was designed by British architects Broadway Malyan and was completed in 2015. 

The building became headline news in January of 2013 after a helicopter crashed into it’s construction crane, killing the helicopter pilot and one person on the ground.  

10) 30, ST MARY AXE / THE GHERKIN

Also known as the Gherkin owing to it's unusual shape, the forty storeys of this 590 foot / 180 meter high building, shown above, is situated in the financial district of the City of London and was designed by British architects Sir Norman Foster & Partners. 

Construction began in 2001 and it was only two and a half years in the building before it was opened in May of 2004. 

The building is owned by Swiss insurance company, Swiss Re, and was built in order to replace the ruin of the former Baltic Exchange building, which had been destroyed by an IRA bomb in April of 1992.