122 Leadenhall Street, The Cheese Grater London, City Tower Building Photos, UK Architect Design

Cheesegrater London : The Leadenhall Building

City of London Office Skyscraper design by RSHP, Architects, England, UK

20 December 2021

e-architect look back over some of the key buildings designed by Richard Rogers, who died at the age of 88.

The 122 Leadenhall Street design was by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

20 May 2016
RSHP Studio in 122 Leadenhall Street
Design: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, architects

photograph : Paul Raftery
122 Leadenhall Street London Offices
This fit-out design was done in-house – it reinterprets the design philosophy of the practice as flexible, legible space.

3 Nov 2016

The Cheesegrater Building News

The Cheesegrater Tower Running

Grate48: UK Tower Running Champion to take on The Cheesegrater in UK’s highest stair climb

On 10 November the UK Tower Running Champion, Mark “The Marauder” Sims, will tackle the 1,200 steps of The Leadenhall Building – better known as The Cheesegrater. The Grate48 event is the UK’s highest stair climb, raising money for Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

image courtesy of architects practice

Mark Sims is known as the most successful British tower runner ever, having won several UK competitions at buildings including The Gherkin, Beetham Tower (Manchester) and Spinnaker Tower (Portsmouth). On an international scale, he finished eighth at the Empire State Building Run Up where he was competing against the world’s best tower runners.

“The Marauder” is travelling down from Liverpool especially for the challenge at the Cheesegrater, where he will be running alongside fellow elites David Harris and Martin Pedersen, who is flying in from Denmark specifically for the event. He will also be going up against endurance runner Susie Chan and BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth.

The elite runners will be the first to battle The Leadenhall Building’s 1,200 steps at 4pm, followed by groups of 50 participants at 15-minute intervals until 8pm.

Up to 800 people will have the opportunity to walk or run up the 737ft high building to the 48th floor, finishing over 200 metres above street level. At the top, runners will be rewarded with a well-deserved drink as they take in the breath-taking views of the Capital’s skyline.

Grate48 will raise money for Rainbow Trust, which supports over 2,000 families caring for a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. The challenge has been arranged in partnership with Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of OMERS, which has its European headquarters in the building, and is the co-owner of The Leadenhall Building in a joint venture with British Land.

For more information or to sign up for a place and reserve your time slot at Grate48, visit http://rainbowtrust.org.uk/grate48 by the end of Monday 7 November or call Sophie Collins on 01372 220102.

Tickets cost £35 and minimum sponsorship is £160, enough for Rainbow Trust to fund six hours of vital support from a Rainbow Trust Family Support Worker, who provide emotional and practical support to help make life a little easier.

14 Feb 2014

The Leadenhall Building Progress

The Cheesegrater Tower
Architects: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP)

tower photo © Nick Weall

British Land confirmed the latest 12,000-sqft letting at the Cheesegrater skyscraper is to Australian serviced-office firm Servcorp at an eye-catching rent of £72.50 per square foot, reports the London Evening Standard. “The headline rent is comfortably ahead of the £63 per square foot we calculate on remaining unlet space in the building,” Liberum analyst Michael Burt said.

Across British Land’s overall office portfolio, the developer is striking new lettings and lease renewals at 6.8% ahead of estimated rental values — “a reminder of the good rental growth in London offices at present,” Cantor Fitzgerald’s Sue Munden said.

Photos from 15 Sep 2013:

tower photo © Nick Weall

Photo looking up the Cheesegrater building’s east facade, from 29 Apr 2013:

photograph © Adrian Welch

The 47 storey skyscraper – 224m high – is to become one of the tallest buildings in the City of London.

Owing to its tapering shape The Leadenhall Building will deliver floor plates of varying size, ranging from 21,000 sqft on the lower floors to 6,000 sqft at the top of the tower. The reason for the triangular section of the Cheesegrater is apparently to accommodate a viewing corridor to St Paul’s Cathedral (to the west). This does make for an interesting building, and views to St Paul’s are definitely worth protecting, but it seems a little odd all the same.

The form is more interesting when viewed at an angle, with the most articulated facades being the triangular east and west faces. Here the architects have clearly organised the building and the core ‘backpack’ is picked out in bright yellow, a smart move.

It is interesting to look at the core positions for this tower and the ones adjacent. Richard Rogers’ Lloyds Building from 1986 is one a larger plot and has cores pushed to the corners of the building. Then in 2004 we have Foster + Partners’ with a standard central core (well for a circular building that is near obligatory).

Then in 2011 the tallest tower in the City of London, Heron Tower by KPF has the core at the side, unusually the southern side. The reason? According to the architects to reduce solar gain, the core is partially lined with photovoltaic panels which run from base to top and the office plate wraps around the core to allow views in all directions, a clever solution.

Finally here in the Leadenhall Building we have the core again to one side of the floorplates, but here it is on the north side. It will be interesting to see how the offices deal with solar gain (not aware of fritting or louvres so guess it will be blinds), comments welcome.

Adrian Welch, editor.

New photos of the facade to Leadenhall Street, from 12 Nov 2012:

122 Leadenhall Street, City of London – aka The Cheese Grater
Architects: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

This 610,000 sqft development is due to complete in 2014 and with the Pinnacle site (immediately to the northwest) lying fairly dormant it will become the tallest tower in the City of London (The Pinnacle Building by KPF will be higher but surely won’t be able to catch up by mid-2014).

3 Aug 2011

The Leadenhall Building – The Cheese Grater London

The Leadenhall Building Contractor

BRITISH LAND AND OXFORD PROPERTIES APPOINT LAING O’ROURKE AT LEADENHALL

British Land and Oxford Properties today announced the appointment of Laing O’Rourke as the main contractor on The Leadenhall Building, EC3.

Following completion of the joint venture between British Land and Oxford Properties in 2010, construction work recommenced on site in January 2011. Foundations and preliminary basement works are nearing completion and with the construction contract awarded within budget and ahead of time, the main construction works are expected to start in September.

images : Cityscape

Nigel Webb, Head of Developments at British Land, said: “Laing O’Rourke has an excellent track record of delivering major schemes and we look forward to working with them to deliver The Leadenhall Building, which is set to become a defining City landmark.”

Richard Pilkington, Development Director at Oxford Properties, added: “Laing O’Rourke’s selection as our construction partner is a great milestone for The Leadenhall Building and further underpins our delivery for 2014.”

Roger Robinson, Chief Executive at Laing O’Rourke’s Europe Hub said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this unique project in the City of London. It is a complex build programme which will require exceptional engineering capabilities to successfully deliver the landmark scheme that our clients are expecting from us.”

The 47 storey, 736 ft (224m) Leadenhall tower is set to become one of the tallest buildings in the City of London and will combine nearly half an acre of landscaped open space with modern, flexible offices and retail and dining facilities.

Owing to its tapering shape The Leadenhall Building will deliver floor plates of varying size, ranging from 21,000 sq ft on the lower floors to 6,000 sq ft at the top of the tower. The design offers an efficient and adaptable floorplate with superb views and natural light.

In October 2010, British Land agreed Heads of Terms to develop The Leadenhall Building with Oxford Properties in a 50:50 joint venture basis. In May 2011, non-binding Heads of Terms were agreed with Aon Limited for a 191,000 sq ft pre-let at the scheme with options to take a further 85,000 sq ft.

27 Jan 2011

122 Leadenhall Street – The Cheese Grater London

CITY OF LONDON’S LATEST LANDMARK DEVELOPMENT UNDERWAY

First look photos show construction on site at The Leadenhall Building

Construction has recommenced on what is set to become one of the most iconic buildings in London’s Square Mile, British Land and Oxford Properties’ The Leadenhall Building. Following an announcement in late December 2010 on the completion of a joint venture partnership between British Land and Oxford Properties for the 610,000 sqft development, photos revealed today show the scheme’s contractors back on site and pressing ahead with piling works (the laying of structural support for the building).

122 Leadenhall Street tower photos from FD

Located at 122 Leadenhall, the tapering 47 storey, 736 ft (224m) tower was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners and is due for practical completion in mid 2014.

Combining flexible office space with retail and dining facilities, the development features a spectacularly landscaped, seven-storey open space at the base of the building, which covers nearly half an acre and is of a scale unprecedented in London.

The development’s tapering shape delivers floor plates of varying size, ranging from 21,000sq ft on the lower floors to 6,000sq ft at the top of the tower, all with spectacular views over the capital. Great care has been taken to ensure the design of the building complements the surrounding architecture, particularly with regard to London’s viewing corridors. Seen from the west looking towards St Paul’s Cathedral, The Leadenhall Building will appear to ‘lean away’ from the historic monument.

Nigel Webb, Head of Developments at British Land, said: “Since completing the joint venture partnership with Oxford Properties late last year, we have moved quickly to return to site and forge ahead with the construction of this iconic new London building. The Leadenhall Building is already generating strong interest from a broad range of occupiers in the insurance, financial, professional and corporate business sectors and will complete at a time when we believe strong demand and supply constraints will coincide.”

Richard Pilkington, Development Director, Oxford Properties added: “Our plan was always to move quickly in the New Year and it’s great to see major construction activity on the site again, giving confidence to the occupier market that The Leadenhall Building will be delivered by mid 2014.”

The Cheese Grater Tower

122 Leadenhall Street, City of London – aka The Cheese Grater
Dates built: 2006-14
Architects: Richard Rogers Partnership; now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners

images : Cityscape