PROPERTYdevelopment
Highsociety
Andrea Kirkby takes a view on the new generation of skyscrapers.
T
he City’s skyline is changing. For years, St Paul’s Cathedral dominated it, like a hen brooding over her chicks. But now, a whole new generation of skyscrapers is
about to bristle upwards, transforming London’s financial district from low-rise to very high society indeed. After the credit crunch, it looked for a
while as if the promised towers would never materialise. These were, after all, office buildings planned during the mini- boom of 2003-7; the preceding buildings had been demolished by the time the credit crunch hit, but it looked as if some of the sites would be empty for years. But this October saw the announcement
that work would restart on two deferred developments, the Cheesegrater and the Walkie Talkie (or more properly 122 Leadenhall Street and 20 Fenchurch Street). Meanwhile the Heron Tower has been topped out and the Shard is growing gradually. Something has definitely changed.
Financing partnerships It’s not the attitude of the banks, though. Debt funding is still almost impossible to get. Peter Damesick, head of research at CB Richard Ellis, says, “The only people who are able to move ahead on these big schemes are those who can finance them
32 JANUARY 2011 PROPERTYdrum
from their own balance sheets, or find financial partners. Analysing the schemes that are going ahead, a very common theme is the presence of overseas finance.” Joint ventures prove a useful way of raising funds; Land Securities has signed up Canary Wharf Group for the Walkie Talkie, while British Land’s Cheesegreater gets the go-ahead thanks to a deal with Canada’s Oxford Properties (the real estate branch of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ pension fund). Meanwhile, Great Portland has brought the Canadian investor Brookfield Properties into its 100 Bishopsgate development.
Sovereign wealth funds and similar
vehicles have also helped fund some of these towers. As one might expect, Middle Eastern money is there, Heron Tower was partly funded by the Sultanate of Oman’s reserve fund, while a Qatari consortium has taken an 80 per cent stake in the Shard, and Khalid Affara’s Arab Investments bought a share in the Pinnacle from Union Investment Real Estate AG.
Form and Function The towers are an interesting bunch, as is suggested by the fact that so many of them have already acquired nicknames. The Shard and Cheesegrater have tapering profiles, while the Pinnacle’s spiral gives it a curvy, slightly fluid character. A number of the designs have interesting
The appeal of tall buildings to major corporate occupiers relate not so much to whether the building is tall, but whether it’s large enough to house such an organisation and consolidate its activities
under one roof.’ peter damesick head oF research, cb richard ellis
sustainability features. Many are double- skinned, like the Gherkin; the Pinnacle has 2,000 square metres of solar panelling, while Heron Tower uses photovoltaic cells for much of its energy requirement, achieving a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating. Is this just greenwash? The Strata tower
was widely criticised for its three turbines mounted in the top of the tower; they generate only a very small percentage of the total power used in the building and were seen as window-dressing rather than a real attempt at sustainability. However, the City towers do appear to have built low energy requirements into the design in quite a
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68