Designed by Graham Stirk of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and developed by British Land and Oxford Properties, the new Leadenhall Building is 225 m (737 ft) tall, with 48 floors. With its distinctive wedge-shaped profile it has been nicknamed the Cheesegrater, a name originally given to it by the City of London Corporation's chief planning officer, Peter Rees, who upon seeing a model of the concept "told Richard Rogers I could imagine his wife using it to grate parmesan. [The name] stuck."
The planning application was submitted to the City of London Corporation in February 2004 and was approved in May 2005. In 2006 Scheme Design (RIBA Stage D) started. In a statement made to the London Stock Exchange on 14 August 2008, British Land said it was delaying the project, which was due to start in October 2010. On 22 December 2010, the developer announced the project was moving forward with contracts being signed for the 50/50 joint venture with Oxford Properties.
The new tower features a tapered glass façade on one side which reveals steel bracings, along with a ladder frame to emphasize the vertical appearance of the building. It also appears to anchor the tower to the ground, giving a sense of strength. Unlike other tall buildings, which typically use a concrete core to provide stability, the steel megaframe, engineered by Arup, provides stability to the entire structure and is the world's tallest of its kind. The base features a 30m high atrium. This will be open to the public and will extend the adjacent plaza. The flat side of the building is also encased in glass, and houses the mechanical services – in particular the elevator shafts. These have been turned into an architectural feature in a vein similar to the neighboring Lloyd's building – they deliberately show off the elevator machinery with bright orange painted counterweights and the actual elevator motors themselves.
122 Leadenhall Street. (2015, June 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:11, June 19, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=122_Leadenhall_Street&oldid=667158315
