The Scalpel Tower

Another glass skyscraper is set to grace the City of London’s skies with its presence by 2017; with work beginning this year the 35 storey tower’s home will be in the cities insurance district nestled in between ‘The Walkie Talkie’ (20 Fenchurch Street), 100 Bishopsgate and ‘The Cheesegrater’ (122 Leadenhall Street) – let’s hope this one doesn’t melt any cars.

The Scalpel is going to have 35 stories, be 190 metres tall (Gherkin is 180m), and contain over 560,000 sq. ft. of office space. It’s also planned to have a square with seating, public art and probably a café which means we can get the most out of those lengthy British summers. 

WR Berkley will use 25% of the 560,000 sq. ft. and the building will be the European headquarters for the US insurance company; with the rest being occupied by other leading specialist insurance firms adding to the insurance district vibe in the area.

WRBC Services Ltd applied to the City of London Corporation for planning permission in September 2012 to demolish Prudential House, Allianz Cornhill House and Winterthur House to create the space to construct the Scalpel – permission was granted on 11th June 2013.

Skanska, the multinational construction and development company won the £500 million contract to build The Scalpel Tower beating competition from Mace, after Sir Robert McAlpine and Lend Lease dropped out in the early stages. It was designed by Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF) who are working closely with Arup – structural and mechanical engineers, DP9 – planning consultants and EC Harris – quantity surveyors.

Andrew who works as a surveyor at Morgan Pryce is pleased to see more office space coming onto the market, although he thinks “it’s a shame the space isn’t available right now as this lack of supply and high demand for office space is making our jobs as acquisition agents rather difficult!”

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.