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A newly approved skyscraper will join The Shard as the UK's tallest building after its planning permission was approved by the City of London.
Named 1 Undershaft, it will have a height of 309.6 meters, equaling the height of the Shard to the nearest centimeter.
Located in St Helen's Square, on the site of the former headquarters of insurer Aviva, it will be just across the River Thames from the iconic London landmark and will feature the highest publicly accessible viewing gallery in Europe.
Once completed early in the next decade, it will provide almost 13 percent of the city's needed office space until 2040.
It will also have a free public viewing platform on the 11th floor, as well as a “classroom in the sky” on its upper floors that will be curated by the Museum of London, so that tourists and visitors can get to know the city. .
On its street level, a public screen and a 12.5 meter stage will show concerts, talks, sporting events and productions that will be accessible to the public.
The City of London Corporation's consent comes almost a decade after the first plans for the site emerged and five years after the first application was submitted.
Developers Stanhope will lead the build, after it was designed by Eric Parry Architects on behalf of Singapore's Aroland Holdings.
Shravan Joshi, president of the city of london The Corporation's planning and transportation committee, Shravan Joshi, said: “1 Undershaft is a truly extraordinary building that will not only help meet the demands of economic growth, through the high-quality office space it offers, but will also will contribute to the growth of the city. cultural offer and tourist attraction.
“The approval of another much-needed office development in the City of London speaks to the confidence that global investors have in the London property market and the wider UK economy.
“I am especially pleased that we can work with the Museum of London to open the upper floors of 1 Undershaft to schoolchildren and local communities, a classroom in the sky, developing another inclusive and unique visitor destination that makes Square Mile the best place to live, work, play and invest.”
David Camp, chief executive of Stanhope, said: “We welcome the Committee’s decision to approve the revised proposals at 1 Undershaft, which will deliver almost 13 per cent of the required office space in the City of London by 2040.
“We are proud of the significant contribution these plans will make to the City as a leading global destination, including by delivering one of the largest amounts of commercial space of any building in London.”
