Wheels turning at 22 Bishopsgate
THOUSANDS of workers at the soon-to-be redeveloped Pinnacle site – now known as 22 Bishopsgate – will be able store their bikes, take them for repair and even wash their lycra on site as part of new plans for the 62-storey office tower unveiled yesterday.
The building, which is currently just seven storeys high and uncharitably nicknamed “The Stump”, has lain dormant since 2011 after its previous owner ran out of funding, bringing construction abruptly to a halt.
Under its new owner, French fund manager Axa Real Estate and development partner Lipton Rogers, the plans have undergone a dramatic redesign ahead of their submission to the council later this summer.
The tower, due to be completed in 2019, will be 60 storeys rather than the originally planned 64, and the expensive curved-glass panels have been scrapped.
Lipton Rogers director Yair Ginor said the tower has been designed to cater for the next generation of workers, with meeting spaces, food outlets, a library and sports facilities, including more than 1,500 bike parking spaces.
A fan of the Shard, Sir Stuart Lipton told City PM that of the skyscrapers, 22 Bishopsgate would have most in common with its taller neighbour across the Thames in terms of its elegance in appearance.
Ginor added that it would try to avoid inheriting any nicknames: “It doesn’t have a shape that is trying to be quirky. For now we will call it 22 Bishopgsgate; that’s what it is and where it is.”