One Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. It is the third tallest building in the United Kingdom at above ground level,Aviation charts issued by the Civil Aviation Authority and contains 50 floors. It achieved the title of the tallest building in the UK upon completion in 1991 and held the title for 21 years until the completion of The Shard (310m) in 2012.Top 10 Tallest Buildings in the UK as of 2023 CivilNotePpt. Retrieved 13 February 2023.One Canada Square Canary Development, 9 March 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
Background One Canada Square was designed by César Pelli with Adamson Associates and Frederick Gibberd Coombes. The building is clad with stainless steel. One of the predominant features of the building is the pyramid roof, which contains a flashing aircraft warning light, a rare feature for buildings in the United Kingdom. The distinctive pyramid pinnacle is above sea level.
One Canada Square is primarily used for offices, though there are some retail units on the lower ground floor. There is no observation floor. It is a prestigious location for offices and as of October 2017 was completely let. The building is recognised as a London landmark, and it has gained much attention through film, television, and other media as one of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom.
The ground floor, foyer area and basement levels of One Canada Square are open to the general public, having an underground retail area and a transport interchange from Canary Wharf tube and Docklands Light Railway stations. Access from the basement also links to Canada Square shopping mall.Canary Wharf Group plc, The Estate – Districts – Canada Square – Canada Square District, official Canary Wharf website, Canary Wharf Group plc. Retrieved 25 May 2008 15:17 BST. The ground floor lobby has a restaurant and bar, the current tenant is Shutters.
There is currently no public observation floor. However, there was an exception from 12 October 1992 to 15 December 1992, when bankruptcy administrators for Olympia & York Canary Wharf Limited opened the 50th floor to the public, to maintain interest in Canary Wharf. The scheme was stopped on 15 December 1992 when the IRA attempted to bomb the tower. History
1987–1990: Design and construction The original plans for a business district on Canary Wharf came from G Ware Travelstead. He proposed three 260 m (850 ft) towers. Travelstead was unable to fund the project, so the plans were sold to Olympia & York in 1987.Hermione Hobhouse http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46550 "Modern Docklands: Gazetteer of modern non-housing developments", "Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs", 1994. Retrieved 28 April 2008 Olympia & York grouped all three towers into an area known as Docklands Square, and the main tower was designated DS7 during planning. Docklands Square was later renamed Winston Square before finally being renamed as Canada Square.
The architects chosen to design One Canada Square were César Pelli & Associates, Adamson Associates, and Frederick Gibberd Coombes & Partners. They designed the tower with a similar shape to 200 Vesey Street (formerly Three World Financial Center), New York City, which was also developed by Olympia & York and designed by Argentine architect César Pelli. The shape was also made reminiscent of "Big Ben". Olympia & York wanted to clad One Canada Square in stone, just like Peli's World Financial Center towers constructed in 1986, but the architects first wanted to use aluminium for its low density, before insisting on steel to reflect Britain's heritage as an industrial nation.Canary Wharf Group plc, "Arts & Events", "Canary Wharf", "A different perspective", "Self-guided walking tours at Canary Wharf", "Transitions", 'Canary Wharf Group plc', May 2003. Retrieved 27 April 2008 The final steel clad chosen was Patten Hyclad Cambric-finish stainless-steel.
Commenting on the reason for choosing steel for the clad: "We studied the cladding material carefully and chose stainless steel with a linen finish because it seemed to fit the atmosphere of London." —César Pelli, architect (2016)
One Canada Square was originally designed to be high at 55 storeys, but that penetrated the permitted projection height of the flight obstruction area of the airport approach district to London City Airport, but this was extended to a height of above kerb level in consideration of the fact that One Canada Square was on the external zone of the airport approach. To comply with air traffic safety regulations, the architects took five floors off the tower. The final height of was permitted, otherwise, the developers would have had to dismantle what was necessary to fit the height restriction. After losing five floors, Olympia & York insisted the other floors had to make up the lost floor space by increasing mass to the remaining floor space which created a tower that was not as slim as Pelli desired. Pelli and the other architects proposed alternatives, such as building more floors below ground and creating an extension of the tower into Docklands Square, which were similar ideas based upon previous Olympia & York buildings, though the ideas were rejected as it did not fit the basis of prime office space.
The design of the tower received a fair share of criticism. According to César Pelli, the most damaging criticism came from Prince Charles, who said on national television, "I personally would go mad if I had to work in a place like that". Other criticisms came from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who said that the building was "not quite stunning".
Construction on the tower began in 1988. Construction was given to Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons in association with EllisDon of Toronto, but they were slow at building the tower, partly due to building workers going on strike in the summer of 1989, so Lehrer McGovern took over. Lehrer McGovern contracted out most of the work to Balfour Beatty because the Canary Wharf Tower was a difficult building to build. In total, about 27,500 metric tonnes of British steel and 500,000 bolts were used during construction. Construction also involved building a huge cofferdam to seal construction from water. It also involved driving 222 piles into the ground at 23 metres deep. Also, a 4-metre thick concrete raft was sunk into the dock to act as anchor.
By June 1990, the tower had overtaken Tower 42 (previously known as the NatWest Tower), becoming the tallest building in the United Kingdom.
On 8 November 1990, the tower was topped out when the top piece of the pyramid roof was put in place by crane.
The celebration was attended by many famous architects, recognised engineers and political leaders. Amongst them were César Pelli, Brian Mulroney, Peter Rice, Man-Chung Tang, and Margaret Thatcher. Paul Reichmann, the owner of Olympia & York gave credit to Pelli for his building design as "this inauguration symbolises the spirit with which buildings can be achieved". Margaret Thatcher told the distinguished audience that the tower can become a "national recognised landmark".
1990–2000: Opening and early years In August 1991, One Canada Square was completed and open for business. His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened One Canada Square on the morning of 26 August 1991, and unveiled a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the building. Hundreds of construction workers attended the opening ceremony. The Duke of Edinburgh addressed some 800 invited guests, many of whom had been involved in the project. He spoke of the "large, airy space and clean, efficient office layout", as he declared the building ready for business. The attendees heard a specially commissioned piece of music performed by a 30-strong choir. Paul Reichmann, Chairman of Olympia & York, said: "The Canary Wharf Tower marks the start of a new beginning for Canary Wharf, for London, and for the United Kingdom. It is by any standard a triumph of ambition, commitment and collaboration. It will breathe life into Canary Wharf, allowing us to continue our transformation of the rest of the wharf, and will put Canary Wharf at the leading edge of real estate." —Paul Reichmann, Chairman, Olympia & York (1991) The majority of the tower was empty after opening because most tenants had not moved in yet and there was a global recession. To brighten up the tower, lights and lasers were installed during the Christmas celebrations of 1991.Peter Fink, Anne Bean, "alighted city" – "New Year Installation, Canary Wharf, London" – "Light Year: New Year Installation, Canary Wharf, London", Art2Architecture website, Art2Architecture London Ltd. Retrieved 25 May 2008 20:40 BST.
On 15 November 1992, the Provisional Irish Republican Army attempted to place a large improvised explosive device near the tower. The IRA had already worked out that to cause maximum damage, the bomb had to be placed under the Docklands Light Railway bridge to disrupt infrastructure near One Canada Square for a devastating effect. The bomb was in a van which was driven to the designated place. As the bombers were about to make their escape, security guards approached the van because it was parked illegally on double yellow lines. Two men got out of the vehicle and one pointed a revolver at one of the security guards. The gun failed to fire. The terrorists were then pursued as far as the boundary of the wharf, but they escaped. Armed police were on the scene within minutes and the army bomb squad discovered that the vehicle contained a bomb. The detonator failed to ignite the main charge, and the bomb did not go off, so there was no bomb damage to Canary Wharf. The wharf was sealed off for a couple of days whilst an intensive search took place for further devices. A few days later, the IRA described it as 'sheer ill luck' as the bomb failed to detonate. There was criticism that the intelligence services did not know about this massive bomb travelling through London.
On 9 February 1996, the Provisional IRA successfully detonated a large bomb at South Quay, south of Canary Wharf (outside Canary Wharf), which killed two people and devastated several buildings. This explosion is commonly, but erroneously, referred to as the "Canary Wharf bomb".Carolina Herling, Caroline Liljedahl, "Canary Wharf – An Establishment of a Major Business District", Page 16 of PDF document, page 15 of document, 'Department of Infrastructure', 'Building and Real Estate Economics', 'Royal Institute of Technology', February 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
2000–present: Park Pavilion In 2009, the building was extended with Park Pavilion, a two-story glass structure built on the east side of the building, designed by César Pelli and Koetter Kim. The extension replaced the stainless steel columns, car parking spaces and road leading to Canada Square. The extension was made to create more retail space at street level, where five tenants were chosen to occupy the space: four restaurants and Lloyds Bank. The extension's roof terrace is open to diners and contains a green roof having sedum moss.
A terrorist plot was confirmed on 4 April 2008, when a terror cell appeared at Woolwich Crown Court accused of targeting Canary Wharf. The men denied the charges, but were found guilty for planning attacks on the Canary Wharf skyscrapers.
Technical details
Pyramid roof
The pyramid roof is an important feature of the building, enclosing a maintenance plant and housing facilities for water supply and window washing, and an aircraft warning beacon. The pyramid itself is 40 metres high and 30 metres square at the base. It is made from stainless steel and is held together by 100,000 nuts and bolts, with a weight of more than 100 tons. A louvre access door opens to allow a shining beacon to identify the building to passing aircraft.
The pyramid is metal louvres that are self-cleaning with rainwater.