The Pinnacle

Identification

Map

Structure in general

Usage

Facts

• The building incorporates biomass heating and ground water heat exchangers.
• The bottom three storeys of the tower are publicly accessible; there is also a sky lobby and restaurant on the 43rd floor which are London's highest public vantage point.
• The design of the top resembles a helter-skelter, hence the tower's nickname.
• The scheme was initially proposed to be 307.25m tall with 64 storeys and a total floor area of 140,147sq m. Following objections from the Civil Aviation Authority, the height was reduced in December 2005 by 19.35m/4 storeys.
• An earlier proposal for a 216m tall, 50-storey tower designed by Murphy/Jahn Associates on the site of 6-8 Bishopsgate and 22-24 Bishopsgate was abandoned following opposition from English Heritage over the impact on the view of St. Paul's Cathedral looking east along Fleet Street.
• Level 57 is double height.
• The building has 52 office floors with financial trading floors sited on levels 3 to 9.
• The design maximises the use of natural light reducing dependence on electric lighting.
• The façade is ventilated to counter solar gain and facilitate the use of natural ventilation.
• The top of the tower should sway by only about 5 centimetres (2 inches).
• The base of the tower exhibits a curvaceous canopy which billows out in the manner of the bottom of a pair of flared trousers.
• The ventilated façade system consists of overlapping flat panels which resemble snakeskin, obviating the need for curved panels; indeed the exterior is expressed without a single piece of curved glass.
• The building's height AOD is 305 metres.
• The height was determined by the flight path leading to London's City Airport.
• The building has 60 main 2.4 metre (7.8 feet) piles descending to a depth of 60 metres (197 feet), each of which required concrete to be poured continuously for 13 hours.
• All of the office floor plates can be split to house two tenants on one floor and all floors can be configured for cellular or open-plan occupation.
• The tower has 90,000 photovoltaic cells which are integrated into around 2,000 sq m of the façade and generate 200 kilowatts of electricity.
• Features a high performance triple glazed façade and combines both natural and mechanical ventilation to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption.
• A planning application was submitted on 1 December 2006 to make a series of revisions to the scheme in order to increase the overall floor area. The changes retain the same building envelope, but include 3 additional floors, a revised Sliver building, changes to the cladding and a larger basement.