[title]
First there was The Shard. Then came The Scalpel. Now plans have been submitted for a new skyscraper that would be the tallest building in the City of London – and it’s called The Tulip.
Architects Foster + Partners have already left their mark on the City with 30 St Mary Axe, known by literally everyone as The Gherkin. Now they’re aiming to construct a 1,000-foot-tall Gherkin-on-a-stick right next door.
There’s one big difference between this and London’s glut of new residential and office towers: The Tulip is intended to be a visitor attraction. The designs include viewing galleries, bars and restaurants, internal ’sky bridges’ and external rotating pods, plus a high-tech educational facility that state schools can use for free and spaces for cultural, educational and tech events.
If plans are approved, construction of the tower could be finished by 2025 – by which time Londoners will no doubt have come up with a sillier name for it. How about The Wizard’s Staff?
Update, 2 April 2019: The City of London planning committee has granted permission for The Tulip to be built. It’ll now be reviewed by Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Sign up here to get the latest from London straight to your inbox.