22 Bishopsgate, Modern skyscraper in City of London, United Kingdom.
22 Bishopsgate is a 278-metre, 62-storey skyscraper in the City of London. Its slender, tapering form has a stepped, pointed top and a facade of pale blue-grey glass in vertical bands, with two continuous white or silver strips running from base to top. Near the base, a red-painted element is visible behind glass, and two pairs of louvered panels sit above it.
Construction started in 2008 as a project called The Pinnacle but halted during the financial crisis, leaving only a concrete foundation until 2016. Only after a design change could the tower be completed in 2020, replacing an earlier spiral design with a rectangular form.
The building takes its name from its postal address on Bishopsgate, a street long associated with the bishop's seat and now lined with banks and law firms. The earlier Pinnacle design, nicknamed "The Helter Skelter", drew its twisting roof and curling façade patterns from armadillos, mushrooms and seashells.
The building is a commercial office tower with no public viewing gallery or visitor access to upper floors. It stands on Bishopsgate in the City of London, close to Liverpool Street station and several bus routes. The surrounding streets are busy on weekdays, so allow extra time when walking from the station.
The building was originally planned with a helical roof that resembled a helter-skelter slide, but this plan was abandoned in favor of a flat top. Today it is the second tallest structure in the United Kingdom and the seventeenth in Europe by height.
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