One Canada Square
Encyclopedia
One Canada Square is a skyscraper
in Canary Wharf
in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom since 1991, standing at 770 feet (235 m) above ground level
and containing 50 storeys. In late 2010, it was surpassed in construction height by the Shard London Bridge
(now standing at 245 metres or 804 ft), which is under construction and will become the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom in 2012.
One Canada Square was designed by principal architect Cesar Pelli
, who based the design and shape mainly on the World Financial Center
and Big Ben. 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 at 800 feet (243.8 m) above sea level.
One Canada Square is primarily used for offices, though there are some retail units on the lower ground floor. It is a prestigious location for offices and as of May 2011 was around 65% let. The building is recognised as a London landmark and it has gained much attention through film, television and other media because of its status as one of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom.
came from G Ware Travelstead. He proposed three 260 m (850 ft) towers. Travelstead was unable to find the money for his project, so he sold the plans to Olympia & York in 1987. 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
.
& Associates, Adamson Associates, and Frederick Gibberd Coombes & Partners. They designed the tower with a similar shape to Three World Financial Center
, New York City, which was also developed by Olympia & York and designed by Cesar Pelli too. The shape was also made similar to the Big Ben. Olympia & York wanted to clad One Canada Square in stone, just like the World Financial Center
buildings, 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.
The original Canary Wharf Tower by Cesar Pelli was 864 feet (263.3 m) at 55 stories. The Canary Wharf Tower did penetrate 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 30 feet (9.1 m) above curb level considering the Canary Wharf Tower was on the external zone of the airport approach district. To comply with air traffic safety regulations, the architects took off 5 floors of the tower. The final height of 824 feet (251.2 m) was permitted, otherwise, the developers must dismantle what was necessary to fit the height restriction. After losing 5 floors, Olympia & York insisted the other floors had to make up the lost floor space.
The design of the tower did gain a fair share of criticism. According to Cesar Pelli, the most damaging criticism came from Prince Charles who said "I personally would go mad if I had to work in a place like that" on national television. Other criticisms came from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who said the building was "not quite stunning".
& Sons in association with Ellis Don 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.
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".
addressed some 800 invited guests, many of whom were 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:
And Cesar Pelli, main architect, gave his speech that included:
. To brighten up the tower, lights
and lasers were installed during the Christmas
celebrations of 1991. Soon after in May 1992, the original developers, Olympia & York, went into bankruptcy
administration. A majority of the tenants who were due to move into One Canada Square refused. (Only a handful of tenants actually believed in the Canary Wharf project and still moved in despite the bankruptcy situation.) Over the next several years, ultimate ownership of the tower changed several times (see Ownership section). By 1999, One Canada Square was completely let for the very first time. It took 11 years to fill up the tower (as tenants were first sought from the date of construction).
shows the building at 235 metres (771 ft)
above ground level, or 245.8 metres (806.4 ft) above sea level.
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 over 100 tons. A louvre access door opens to allow a shining beacon to identify the building to passing aircraft.
is pumped up to the pyramid roof, and is continuously replenished. A common sound that is heard inside the pyramid roof is water being moved around. The water is used for general water requirements, such as toilets, etc. The tower consumes an average of 200,000 gallons of water per day.
floor. Some of the electrical generators on the mezzanine floor are powered by micro-hydro water turbines, sourced by water pumped up to the roof, making the building one of the most advanced environmentally friendly buildings in the world.
(climate control) system requires cooling equivalent to that provided by 2,000 t of melting ice in one day. The building has a condensate collection system, which uses the hot and humid outside air, combined with the cooling requirements of the building and results in a significant amount of condensation of moisture from the air. The condensed water is collected and drained into a holding tank located in the basement car park.
[low U-values, 0.90 W/(m².K)], thereby the thermal resistance is one of the highest rated in the world for the entire window including the frame.
The tower also has a synchronised building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display. The technology was developed by Australian firm Laservision and cost approximately £2 million. However, Lights Out is a campaign group who protest against the city's air pollution. Organisers of the campaign urged people to switch off their lights.
is set to work in reverse to extract smoke and fresh air is blown into the fire escape staircases to increase air pressure and therefore slow the entry of smoke into these areas. The sprinkler system will not operate unless there is sufficient heat acting on any sprinkler head (which are independent of each other and do not operate in unison).
The only time when One Canada Square was fully evacuated was on 30 October 2001, during a test drill
in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks.
. The pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts of wind. The building can sway 33.02 centimeter or 13 ¾ inches in the strongest winds.
is 36 feet (11 m) high, cladded in 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²) of marble
imported from Italy, Guatemala
and Turkey
The stained glass and the roundel in the foyer were designed by Charles Rennie, and are an original design. The design represents Canary Wharf, Water and Boats, illustrating the signs of London Docklands. The slate used here and in various places around the foyer on site is made from the Welsh slate shelving used in the repositories of the original Banana Warehouse at Canary Wharf.
to top floor (The Canary Wharf website has not been updated to include the new goods lift GL37).
size
The ground floor, foyer area and basement levels of One Canada Square are open to the general public, having an underground shopping 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. The floors above the lobby are not opened to the public as they contain offices.
Inside Out team found that on midnight Sunday, One Canada Square left more lights on than any other building in London.
However, Canary Wharf Group
did say that some tenants have staff working around the clock, and 100% of the energy comes from renewable resources.
(as is the custom throughout North America) and instead the floors are numbered 11, 12, 14, 15. The fire escape stairs reveals that the floors go straight from the 12th floor to the 14th floor with no space for an extra floor in between.
Any use of a holding company has been excluded from this list, as it is easier to trace the true owner.
(CTBUH) criteria of: when a building is complete, clad and at least partially open for business. In accordance to the CTBUH method, One Canada Square achieved the title of tallest skyscraper in the UK in August 1991. It is a record it has held since. However, other skyscrapers may take this title in the next few years, for example Bishopsgate Tower
and The Shard
. As for the tallest building at Canary Wharf, One Canada Square is currently the tallest building there, but it may be overtaken as the tallest building by Riverside Tower 1
.
As for the tallest building in the European Union, One Canada Square never achieved the title as tallest skyscraper in the European Union's because in accordance to the CTBUH method, a building has to be completed before its receives its title, so as MesseTurm
was completed in 1990, and One Canada Square was completed in 1991, it cannot claim that title.
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 and near the Canary Wharf Tower 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 pointed guns
at the security guards. The security guards tried to calm the situation thus challenged the two men, but the men shot the guards and decided to flee the scene having accomplished their mission. Other Canary Wharf Security guards pursued them as far as the boundary of the wharf, but the men 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. 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. As a result of this attempted bombing, the observation floor was closed (see Public access section) and security was dramatically increased at Canary Wharf.
On 9 February 1996, the IRA did detonate a large bomb at South Quay, south of Canary Wharf (outside of Canary Wharf), which killed two people and devastated several buildings. This explosion is commonly, but erroneously, referred to as the "Canary Wharf bomb"
.
There have been many news articles in recent years stating that the towers at Canary Wharf have been a target for terrorism. However, some of these plots have been denied by the government. One 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.
with metallised windows, this may have caused television reception
interference for local people living in the area. In the case Patricia Hunter and others v. Canary Wharf Ltd.[1997], the House of Lords concluded there is no legal right to receive good television reception. Patricia Hunter and others lost the case because of a variety of reasons that included:
In Spring 2001, the BBC received some television interference complaints from residents in the Poplar
area (north of Canary Wharf). A possible cause for the interference are the other Canary Wharf towers being built. Their advice was to get digital television, satellite or cable.
where the tower and the Docklands area around it are one of the main settings for the post-apocalyptic horror-thriller. Another high profile film was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
, where Harry
and some members of the Order of the Phoenix pass next to One Canada Square as they head to Grimmauld Place near the beginning of the movie on their broomsticks.
The tower has also been featured in a few spy films. Exposure was given to the tower in The World Is Not Enough
, as James Bond
sails past One Canada Square. Another spy film was The Bourne Supremacy
where One Canada Square appeared as the CIA
's London listening station. In the film Johnny English
, One Canada Square had another identical building next to it, where one of the One Canada Square buildings was a hospital and the other was villain Pascal Sauvage's HQ.
Other films featuring the Canary Wharf Tower can be read from a publication called Canary Wharf And Isle Of Dogs Movie Map.
(in the episode Army of Ghosts
), as the location of the Torchwood Institute
, under the name "Torchwood Tower". It has appeared in the series The Tomorrow People
, as the headquarters for Sam Rees. The tower also made multiple appearances on the television show The Apprentice (UK)
.
During the 1990s, One Canada Square was home to the television station L!VE TV
who broadcast live from the tower.
, shows One Canada Square as a free college and youth drop-in centre. It is nicknamed "Major's Last Erection", referring to John Major
.
One Canada Square previously appeared in the Virgin Missing Adventures
novel Millennial Rites
in which the top floor was the headquarters of a yuppie who inadvertently turned London into a "dark fantasy
" kingdom in which he was a powerful sorcerer, with the tower as his citadel; and the Past Doctor Adventures
novel The Time Travellers
, in which it was the headquarters of the British Army
in an alternate timeline
.
One Canada Square also features prominently in an early issue of the Grant Morrison
comic series The Invisibles
, in which Dane MacGowan is encouraged to jump from the top by his mentor, Tom O'Bedlam, as an initiation rite that will allow him to see beyond reality and join The Invisibles.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom since 1991, standing at 770 feet (235 m) above ground level
Above ground level
In aviation and atmospheric sciences, an altitude is said to be above ground level when it is measured with respect to the underlying ground surface. This is as opposed to above mean sea level , or in broadcast engineering, height above average terrain...
and containing 50 storeys. In late 2010, it was surpassed in construction height by the Shard London Bridge
Shard London Bridge
Shard London Bridge is a skyscraper under construction in Southwark, London. When completed in May 2012, it will be the tallest building in the European Union and the 45th-tallest building in the world, standing tall...
(now standing at 245 metres or 804 ft), which is under construction and will become the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom in 2012.
One Canada Square was designed by principal architect Cesar Pelli
César Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
, who based the design and shape mainly on the World Financial Center
World Financial Center
The World Financial Center is a complex of buildings across West Street from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. This complex is home to offices of companies including Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, Nomura Group, the Wall Street...
and Big Ben. 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
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
is at 800 feet (243.8 m) above sea level.
One Canada Square is primarily used for offices, though there are some retail units on the lower ground floor. It is a prestigious location for offices and as of May 2011 was around 65% let. The building is recognised as a London landmark and it has gained much attention through film, television and other media because of its status as one of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom.
The original plans
The original plans for a business district on Canary WharfCanary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
came from G Ware Travelstead. He proposed three 260 m (850 ft) towers. Travelstead was unable to find the money for his project, so he sold the plans to Olympia & York in 1987. 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
Canada Square
Canada Square is a public square at Canary Wharf, on the Isle of Dogs in London's Docklands. It is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the eastern end of Central London along the River Thames. Canada Square is surrounded by three of the tallest buildings in the United Kingdom, including One...
.
Architects / Design
The architects chosen to design One Canada Square were Cesar PelliCésar Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
& Associates, Adamson Associates, and Frederick Gibberd Coombes & Partners. They designed the tower with a similar shape to Three World Financial Center
Three World Financial Center
Three World Financial Center also known as American Express Tower, is one of the thirty tallest skyscrapers in New York City. Located on West Street between Liberty Street and Vesey Street in Lower Manhattan the building is the tallest, 739 feet , of the four buildings in the World Financial...
, New York City, which was also developed by Olympia & York and designed by Cesar Pelli too. The shape was also made similar to the Big Ben. Olympia & York wanted to clad One Canada Square in stone, just like the World Financial Center
World Financial Center
The World Financial Center is a complex of buildings across West Street from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. This complex is home to offices of companies including Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, Nomura Group, the Wall Street...
buildings, but the architects first wanted to use aluminium for its low density before insisting on steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
to reflect Britain's heritage as
an industrial nation.
The original Canary Wharf Tower by Cesar Pelli was 864 feet (263.3 m) at 55 stories. The Canary Wharf Tower did penetrate the permitted projection height of the flight obstruction area of the airport approach district to London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
, but this was extended to a height of 30 feet (9.1 m) above curb level considering the Canary Wharf Tower was on the external zone of the airport approach district. To comply with air traffic safety regulations, the architects took off 5 floors of the tower. The final height of 824 feet (251.2 m) was permitted, otherwise, the developers must dismantle what was necessary to fit the height restriction. After losing 5 floors, Olympia & York insisted the other floors had to make up the lost floor space.
The design of the tower did gain a fair share of criticism. According to Cesar Pelli, the most damaging criticism came from Prince Charles who said "I personally would go mad if I had to work in a place like that" on national television. Other criticisms came from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who said the building was "not quite stunning".
Construction
Construction on the tower began in 1988. Construction was given to Sir Robert McAlpineSir Robert McAlpine
Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. is a private British company headquartered in London. It carries out engineering and construction for the oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation, nuclear, pharmaceutical, defence, chemical, water and mining industries.-History:...
& Sons in association with Ellis Don of Toronto, but they were slow at building the tower, partly due to building workers going on strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
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
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and 500,000 bolts were used during construction.
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
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, Peter Rice
Peter Rice
Peter Rice was an Irish structural engineer.Born in 52 Brigid Street, Dundalk in County Louth, he spent his childhood between the town of Dundalk, and the villages of Gyles' Quay and Inniskeen. He was educated at the Queen's University of Belfast where he received his primary degree, and spent a...
, Man-Chung Tang
Man-Chung Tang
Man-Chung Tang, is a notable American civil engineer and businessman.-Biography:Tang is current Chairman of the Board and the Technical Director of the T. Y. Lin International, an American design and construction company....
, and Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. 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".
Opening
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. His Royal Highness unveiled a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the building. Hundreds of construction workers attended the opening ceremony. The Duke of Edinburghaddressed some 800 invited guests, many of whom were 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)
-
And Cesar Pelli, main architect, gave his speech that included:
"According to Lao Tse, the reality of a hollow object is in the void and not in the walls that define it. He was speaking, of course, of spiritual realities. These are the realities also of the Canary Wharf Tower. The power of the void is increased and... with its supporting structure creates a portal to the sky ... a door to the infinite."
-
-
- —Cesar Pelli, architect (1991)
-
Post-completion
The majority of the tower was empty after opening because most tenants had not moved in yet and there was a global recessionRecession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
. To brighten up the tower, lights
Architectural lighting design
Architectural lighting design is a field within architecture and architectural engineering that concerns itself primarily with the illumination of buildings. The objective of architectural lighting design is to obtain sufficient light for the purposes of the building, balancing factors of initial...
and lasers were installed during the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
celebrations of 1991. Soon after in May 1992, the original developers, Olympia & York, went into bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
administration. A majority of the tenants who were due to move into One Canada Square refused. (Only a handful of tenants actually believed in the Canary Wharf project and still moved in despite the bankruptcy situation.) Over the next several years, ultimate ownership of the tower changed several times (see Ownership section). By 1999, One Canada Square was completely let for the very first time. It took 11 years to fill up the tower (as tenants were first sought from the date of construction).
Building height
Officially, the Civil Aviation AuthorityCivil Aviation Authority
This is a list of national and supra-national civil aviation authorities.-See also:* Air route authority between the United States and the People's Republic of China* National Transportation Safety Board -External links:****...
shows the building at 235 metres (771 ft)
above ground level, or 245.8 metres (806.4 ft) above sea level.
Pyramid roof
The pyramid roof is an important feature of the building, enclosing a maintenance plant and housing facilities for water supply, window washing and an aircraft warning beacon. The pyramid itself is 40 metres highand 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 over 100 tons. A louvre access door opens to allow a shining beacon to identify the building to passing aircraft.
Water
WaterWater
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
is pumped up to the pyramid roof, and is continuously replenished. A common sound that is heard inside the pyramid roof is water being moved around. The water is used for general water requirements, such as toilets, etc. The tower consumes an average of 200,000 gallons of water per day.
Window washing machines
The machines for washing the building windows are stored inside the pyramid roof. There are two types: one is automatic and the other is manual. The automatic window washing machines runs on rails on the sides of the building. This machine can clean a window in 2.6 seconds. It consumes 426,000 gallons of water per run to clean the entire tower. The other machine is a manual window washing cradle. Both of these machines for cleaning the windows are supported by rails that run around the outside of the pyramid roof that are bolted down into the maintenance floor itself.Aircraft warning lights
The aircraft warning light is at the very top of the pyramid. Access is via a ladder with a warning sign stating that unauthorised entry will lead to dismissal. The tower uses an OL5000 medium intensity LED obstruction light. It is an omni-directional light usually for marking hazards. It has very long life and requires little maintenance. Light intensity achieved is well in excess of the required 2,000 candelas. It uses low power consumption and the unit can be flashing or steady burning.Electrical equipment
There is electrical equipment that regulates the power to the rest of the building on the mezzanineMezzanine (architecture)
In architecture, a mezzanine or entresol is an intermediate floor between main floors of a building, and therefore typically not counted among the overall floors of a building. Often, a mezzanine is low-ceilinged and projects in the form of a balcony. The term is also used for the lowest balcony in...
floor. Some of the electrical generators on the mezzanine floor are powered by micro-hydro water turbines, sourced by water pumped up to the roof, making the building one of the most advanced environmentally friendly buildings in the world.
Roof material
The steel comprises a galvanized steel core, with a multi-layered protective coating and granular finish for with better performance characteristics. The tile is in three satin finishes and a high-gloss silver and can be transported in situ in a building's roof.Cleaning the roof
The pyramid itself is cleaned by special maintenance personnel who abseil from the light beacon opening at the very top of the roof. Not only do they have to deal with the height, as well as the winds that interfere with their ropes, but they also need to inspect the steel roof.Pyramid roof lights
The pyramid roof lights up in the evenings and can be seen 20 miles (32.2 km) away. It is a permanent lighting of the Canary Wharf tower pyramid using a thousand electronically controlled fluorescent tubes capable of sequence programming for special occasions and festive seasons. The 4000 lights are highly energy efficient that have an annual running cost of £23,360 rather than an annual running cost of £116,800 if traditional incandescent bulbs were used.Lightning conductors
One Canada Square uses a traditional roof circuit for its lightning protection system. The roof holds 5 lightning conductor rods. This rooftop network of conductors contain multiple conductive copper paths from the roof to the ground. The steel clad does not form part of the lightning protection system as it was considered too dangerous.HVAC
At the peak cooling times, the HVACHVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
(climate control) system requires cooling equivalent to that provided by 2,000 t of melting ice in one day. The building has a condensate collection system, which uses the hot and humid outside air, combined with the cooling requirements of the building and results in a significant amount of condensation of moisture from the air. The condensed water is collected and drained into a holding tank located in the basement car park.
Windows
One Canada Square has 3,960 windows and was one of the first buildings to incorporate metallicised windows and other advanced window technologies, to assist with the building's energy efficiency plans. The tower uses super-insulated windows at triple-pane glazing (with a high solar heat-gain coefficient), low-emissivity (low-e) coatings to prevent heat loss in winter months, UV coatings, scratch resistant outer layers, sealed argon / krypton gas filled inter-pane voids, 'warm edge' insulating glass spacers, air-seals and specially developed thermally designed window frames. The windows were manufactured with exceptionally high R-valuesR-value (insulation)
The R-value is a measure of thermal resistance used in the building and construction industry. Under uniform conditions it is the ratio of the temperature difference across an insulator and the heat flux through it or R = \Delta T/\dot Q_A.The R-value being discussed is the unit thermal resistance...
[low U-values, 0.90 W/(m².K)], thereby the thermal resistance is one of the highest rated in the world for the entire window including the frame.
External lighting
The tower uses low energy consumption external lighting through intelligent lighting controls systems. This computer controlled system generates the visually interesting lighting displays on the exterior of the building. The uplighters that are usually seen on the exterior of the building are inductive fluorescent lamps that can be colour rendered and dimmed. The floodlights use compact fluorescent lamps used to provide controlled lighting at the base of the tower. The lighting control system has photocells that will automatically switch on the display when it is dark.The tower also has a synchronised building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display. The technology was developed by Australian firm Laservision and cost approximately £2 million. However, Lights Out is a campaign group who protest against the city's air pollution. Organisers of the campaign urged people to switch off their lights.
Fire system
In the event of a fire, One Canada Square is not fully evacuated. Only the floor that has the fire and the floor immediately above are evacuated. The air conditioningAir conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
is set to work in reverse to extract smoke and fresh air is blown into the fire escape staircases to increase air pressure and therefore slow the entry of smoke into these areas. The sprinkler system will not operate unless there is sufficient heat acting on any sprinkler head (which are independent of each other and do not operate in unison).
The only time when One Canada Square was fully evacuated was on 30 October 2001, during a test drill
Fire drill
A fire drill is a method of practicing the evacuation of a building for a fire or other emergency. Generally, the emergency system is activated and the building is evacuated as though a real fire had occurred...
in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Procedure for fire alarm
When the fire alarm activates on a floor, audio instructions tailored to each floor of the building sound. The floor where the fire alarm originated, and all floors above this level, will receive an evacuation message. On floors below the source of the alarm a stand-by notification is given.Tuned mass damper
One Canada Square has a steel pendulum that serves as a tuned mass damperTuned mass damper
A tuned mass damper, also known as an active mass damper or harmonic absorber, is a device mounted in structures to reduce the amplitude of mechanical vibrations. Their application can prevent discomfort, damage, or outright structural failure...
. The pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts of wind. The building can sway 33.02 centimeter or 13 ¾ inches in the strongest winds.
Lobby
The lobbyLobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
is 36 feet (11 m) high, cladded in 90000 square feet (8,361.3 m²) of marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
imported from Italy, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
The stained glass and the roundel in the foyer were designed by Charles Rennie, and are an original design. The design represents Canary Wharf, Water and Boats, illustrating the signs of London Docklands. The slate used here and in various places around the foyer on site is made from the Welsh slate shelving used in the repositories of the original Banana Warehouse at Canary Wharf.
Lifts
The tower has thirty two lifts for tenants to use, where 8 lifts serve roughly ten floors of the building. All tenant passenger lifts serve the ground floor and the following groups of floors - floors 5-17, floors 18-27, floors 28-38 and floors 39-50 (note that level 5 is the first office floor, there is no level 13 and that there are no interchange floors apart from the ground floor). In addition there are 2 firemen's lifts which serve all floors in the building. These have colour designations with blue being in the northeast core of the building and green being in the southwest. From the building's initial construction until late 2009 there were 2 large freight lifts at which point another was added. This lift was built inside a vacant lift shaft and has the designation GL37 (GL for goods lift and 37 as it is the 37th lift in the building). The tower uses 'Gearless Traction Elevators' by Otis. These lifts were installed in 1990 (aside from GL37 - 2009) using a gearless traction machine. They have woven steel cables called hoisting ropes that are attached to the top of the lift cabin and wrapped around the drive sheave in special grooves. The other ends of the cables are attached to a counterweight that moves up and down in the hoistway on its own guiderails. It takes 40 seconds by lift from lobbyLobby (room)
A lobby is a room in a building which is used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer or an entrance hall.Many office buildings, hotels and skyscrapers go to great lengths to decorate their lobbies to create the right impression....
to top floor (The Canary Wharf website has not been updated to include the new goods lift GL37).
Observation floor
There is currently no public observation floor. However, there was an exception during 12 September 1992 - 15 November 1992, when bankruptcy administrators for Olympia & York Canary Wharf Limited opened the 50th floor to the public, in order to maintain interest in Canary Wharf. The scheme was stopped on 15 November 1992 when the IRA attempted to bomb the tower (see Terrorism section).General figures
average floorFloor
A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology...
size
- 4,388 internal steps
- 108,000 deliveries to the loading bay each year
Public access
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
tube
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
stations. Access from the basement also links to Canada Square shopping mall. The floors above the lobby are not opened to the public as they contain offices.
Environmental rating
The international BREEAM standard has awarded One Canada Square for best practice in sustainable design and environmental performance for buildings. To achieve the rating, the building had to meet or exceed a challenging score of 85% against strict criteria, and included environmental innovations such as the use of 80% recycled aggregate within the concrete used, and the recycling of waste heat to cool and warm the building. Aggregates used in the office build were from predominantly recycled sources, part of a strategy to integrate sustainable products and materials throughout the site, delivering both affordable and sustainable environmentally friendly features to the building.Maintenance
Canary Wharf Management Ltd are responsible for the maintenance of the building. There are about 130 in-house and contract staff who maintain, manage, secure and clean the building. There are normally ten maintenance personnel on-site during working hours and three at night to attend to routine repairs and adjustments to the internal environment. Critical spare parts for the electricity, gas and water systems are kept within the building.Light usage
One Canada Square was 'named and shamed' for being the top building to leave the lights on unnecessarily. The research carried out by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Inside Out team found that on midnight Sunday, One Canada Square left more lights on than any other building in London.
However, Canary Wharf Group
Canary Wharf Group
Canary Wharf Group plc is the owner and developer of nearly of property at Canary Wharf in London. It is notable because over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in London than any other developer...
did say that some tenants have staff working around the clock, and 100% of the energy comes from renewable resources.
13th floor
Due to the building's original Canadian developers there is no thirteenth floorThirteenth floor
Thirteenth floor is a designation of a level of a multi-level building that is often omitted in countries where the number is considered unlucky...
(as is the custom throughout North America) and instead the floors are numbered 11, 12, 14, 15. The fire escape stairs reveals that the floors go straight from the 12th floor to the 14th floor with no space for an extra floor in between.
Current office tenants
(This listing differs from Canary Wharf Group's list as it is outdated. This listing also does not match Royal Mail / The Post Office list when searching for companies in One Canada Square)- Abbey business centresAbbey business centresAbbey Business Centres is a UK based corporation that provides serviced office space, meeting room facilities and virtual office packages in 13 business centres across Great Britain....
Trading as Abbey Offices - Bank of New York MellonBank of New York MellonThe Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company formed on July 1, 2007 as result of the merger of The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation...
- Canary Wharf GroupCanary Wharf GroupCanary Wharf Group plc is the owner and developer of nearly of property at Canary Wharf in London. It is notable because over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in London than any other developer...
PLC (including Canary Wharf Contractors and Canary Wharf Management) - CFA Institute
- Charles Stanley
- Citihub Ltd
- Clearstream BankingClearstreamClearstream Banking S.A. is the clearing and settlement division of Deutsche Börse, based in Luxembourg and Frankfurt. Clearstream was created in January 2000 through the merger of Cedel International and Deutsche Börse Clearing...
/ Deutsche Burse AG - Clydesdale BankClydesdale BankClydesdale Bank is a commercial bank in Scotland, a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank Group. In Scotland, Clydesdale Bank is the third largest clearing bank, although it also retains a branch network in London and the north of England...
- Coutts & CoCouttsCoutts & Co. is one of the UK's private banking houses, now wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland . RBS acquired Coutts and all of its overseas subsidiaries when it bought NatWest. On 1 January 2008, Coutts' international businesses were renamed RBS Coutts, aligning them more closely with...
- Diligence
- Engageability
- Euler HermesEuler HermesEuler Hermes is a French credit insurance company majority-owned by Allianz France which is in turn owned by Germany's Allianz SE.It claims to have 36% of the total credit insurance market. Euler Hermes is the result of the acquisition of Allianz's Hermes by AGF's Euler in 2002...
UK (formerly Trade Indemnity) - Gekko Global Markets
- HSBCHSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
- IB Times
- International Grains Council http://www.igc.org.uk/
- International Sugar OrganizationInternational Sugar OrganizationThe International Sugar Organization is an intergovernmental organization, based in London, which was established by the International Sugar Agreement of 1968, as the body responsible for administering the Agreement...
- JP Morgan
- Mahindra Satyam
- Moody's
- MetLife
- NatWest Bank plcNational Westminster BankNational Westminster Bank Plc, commonly known as NatWest, is the largest retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom and has been part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc since 2000. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is ranked as the second largest bank in the world by assets...
- Netscout
- NYSE Euronext
- Ocean Media Group
- Regus Business CentersRegusRegus plc is a multinational corporation that provides serviced office accommodation in business centres worldwide. As of March 2011, it operates 1,100 business centres in 85 countries. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
- Samsung Electronics London 2012 Olympic Office
- State Street Bank
- Trinity MirrorTrinity MirrorTrinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
Group (which includes The Daily MirrorThe Daily MirrorThe Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
, "The Wharf", The Sunday Mirror and The Sunday People) - Wide Network Solutions
Previous office tenants
- Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé
- Alvarez & Marsal
- Atkins (Faithful+GouldFaithful+GouldFaithful+Gould is an international consultancy providing project management, building surveying and cost management services for construction and engineering projects in property, regeneration, transport and industry...
) - Bear StearnsBear StearnsThe Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. based in New York City, was a global investment bank and securities trading and brokerage, until its sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008 during the global financial crisis and recession...
International - Cheltenham & Gloucester
- CitibankCitibankCitibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
- City University, LondonCity University, LondonCity University London , is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and became a university in 1966, when it adopted its present name....
, (Cass Business School) (Canary Wharf Campus) - ConocoPhillips Burlington ResourcesBurlington ResourcesBurlington Resources, was an American oil and gas company. Their headquarters were in Houston, Texas. The company was acquired by ConocoPhillips in 2006....
- European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations
- E-Trade
- GATX International Limited
- Global Sage
- Hartford Life
- Knight FrankKnight Frank LLPKnight Frank LLP is a multinational real estate and property service firm founded in London in 1896. Knight Frank together with its New York-based affiliate Newmark Knight Frank is one of the world's leading independent global property consultancies....
- KPMGKPMGKPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
- London Organising Committee for the Olympic GamesLondon Organising Committee for the Olympic GamesThe London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games is a limited company, owned by the Government of the United Kingdom, that will oversee the planning and development of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. After the successful London 2012 Olympic bid, LOCOG was...
(LOCOG) / London 2012 - Maersk
- Maine Tucker
- Médecins du MondeMédecins du MondeMédecins du Monde or Doctors of the World, is a non-governmental humanitarian aid organisation created in March 1980 by 15 French doctors, including Bernard Kouchner after he had left Médecins Sans Frontières , the aid society which he had co-founded earlier in 1971...
UK - Michael Page International
- Michael Stone Associates Ltd
- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
- NovartisNovartisNovartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...
Europharm - Primus CommunicationPrimus TelecomPrimus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated is an integrated facilities-based telecommunications services provider offering international and domestic voice, voice-over-Internet protocol , Internet, wireless, data and hosting services to business and residential retail customers and other...
- QSR Management
- Quadrant Capital
- Royal Bank of ScotlandRoyal Bank of ScotlandThe Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
- Satyam Computer Services Ltd
- Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & FlomSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & FlomSkadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates , founded in 1948, is a prominent law firm based in New York City. With over 2,000 attorneys, it is one of the largest and highest-grossing law firms in the world. Forbes magazine calls Skadden "Wall Street's most powerful law firm"...
- SWX Swiss ExchangeSWX Swiss ExchangeSIX Swiss Exchange , based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange . SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as stock options.The main stock market index for the SIX Swiss Exchange is the SMI, the Swiss Market Index...
/Virt-X (Swiss Stock Exchange) - Teach FirstTeach FirstTeach First is an independent educational charity United Kingdom, Reg. No. 1098294, founded in 2002. Its mission is to address educational disadvantage by transforming exceptional graduates into effective, inspirational teachers and leaders in all fields...
- Telegraph Media Group. The Daily (and Sunday) Telegraph moved to VictoriaVictoria, LondonVictoria is a commercial and residential area of inner city London, lying wholly within the City of Westminster, and named after Queen Victoria....
in late 2006. The Daily Telegraph formerly occupied floors 11-16. - Van der Moolen Holding NVVan der MoolenVan der Moolen was a Dutch equity trading firm, with its headquarters located in Amsterdam. They were mainly active in the United States and in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom....
Ownership
The ownership of One Canada Square has changed since it was constructed. The table below shows who have previously owned One Canada Square, and also who are the current owners.Any use of a holding company has been excluded from this list, as it is easier to trace the true owner.
| Date | Owner |
|---|---|
| 1988–1991 | (Building under construction) Olympia & York Canary Wharf Limited (Ultimate parent: Olympia & York Developments Limited) |
| 1991–1992 | Olympia & York Canary Wharf Limited (Ultimate parent: Olympia & York Developments Limited) |
| 1992-1992 | None (previous owners were in administration due to bankruptcy) |
| 1992-1992 | Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited |
| 1992–1993 | None (Return to administration) |
| 1993–1995 | Canary Wharf Limited (Parent: Sylvester Investments) (Ultimate parent: a consortium of 11 banks owned by Barclays Bank, CIBC, Chemical Bank, Citibank Citibank Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York... , Commerzbank Commerzbank Commerzbank AG is the second-largest bank in Germany, after Deutsche Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.-Activities:Commerzbank is mainly active in commercial bank, retail banking and mortgaging. It suffered reversals in investment banking in early 2000s and scaled back its Securities unit... , Crédit Lyonnais Crédit Lyonnais Crédit Lyonnais is a historic French bank. In the early 1990s it was the largest French bank, majority state-owned at that point. Crédit Lyonnais was the subject of poor management during that period which almost led to its bankruptcy in 1993... , Credit Suisse Credit Suisse The Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.-History:... , Kansallis-Osake-Pankki Kansallis-Osake-Pankki Kansallis-Osake-Pankki was a Finnish commercial bank operating from 1889 to 1995. It was created by the fennoman movement as a Finnish language alternative to the largely Swedish language bank, Suomen Yhdyspankki . The two banks were merged in 1995 to form the Merita Bank... , Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies... , National Bank of Canada National Bank of Canada National Bank of Canada is the 6th largest bank and 8th largest financial institution in Canada. The bank's headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec.... , and Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,... ) |
| 1993–1995 | Canary Wharf Limited (Parent: Tomcat Investments - transitional use to International Property Corporation Limited) (Ultimate parent: a consortium of 5 banks owned by Citibank, Commerzbank, Crédit Lyonnais, Credit Suisse, and Royal Bank of Canada) |
| 1995–1999 | Canary Wharf Limited (Parent: International Property Corporation Limited) (Ultimate parent: a consortium owned by CNA Financial Corporation CNA Financial Corporation CNA Financial Corporation is a financial corporation based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and noted for its tall red headquarters building, CNA Center. Its principal subsidiary, Continental Casualty Company was founded in 1897. CNA was incorporated in 1967... , Franklin Mutual Series Fund Franklin Templeton Investments Franklin Resources Inc. is a holding company which, together with its subsidiaries, is referred to as Franklin Templeton Investments; it is an investment firm originally founded in New York in 1947 as Franklin Distributors, Inc. It is listed on the NYSE under the ticker BEN, in honor of Benjamin... , HRH Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud Al-Waleed bin Talal Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is a Saudi Arabian billionaire and member of the Saudi royal family. He is the nephew of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. An entrepreneur and international investor he has amassed a fortune through investments in real estate and the stock market.He is founder and CEO of... , affiliates of Republic New York Corporation Republic New York Republic New York Corporation was the holding company for the Republic National Bank of New York and the Safra Republic Bank. The company was controlled by billionaire Edmond Safra, who was killed in a fire in his Monte Carlo penthouse apartment by his nurse Ted Maher... , Paul Reichmann Paul Reichmann Paul Reichmann is a Canadian businessman best known for his leadership of the Olympia & York a real estate development company.-Formative years:Reichmann was born in Vienna in 1930 to Samuel Reichmann, a wealthy egg merchant and his wife René... ) |
| 1999–2004 | Canary Wharf Group Canary Wharf Group Canary Wharf Group plc is the owner and developer of nearly of property at Canary Wharf in London. It is notable because over the last 10 years it has constructed more office space in London than any other developer... plc Public limited company A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions.... (public company, no majority shareholder) |
| 2004–2010 | Canary Wharf Group plc (public company, majority shareholder is Songbird Estates plc) |
| 2010- | British Land British Land The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is headquartered in London... |
Height ranking
| Title | Rank |
|---|---|
| Tallest building in the world | 204 |
| Tallest building in Europe | 15 |
| Tallest building in the European Union | 7 |
| Tallest building in the UK | 2 |
| Tallest completed building in the UK | 1 |
| Tallest building in Canary Wharf | 1 |
Titles
Titles such as the 'tallest building in the UK' can be determined by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban HabitatCouncil on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design...
(CTBUH) criteria of: when a building is complete, clad and at least partially open for business. In accordance to the CTBUH method, One Canada Square achieved the title of tallest skyscraper in the UK in August 1991. It is a record it has held since. However, other skyscrapers may take this title in the next few years, for example Bishopsgate Tower
Bishopsgate Tower
The Pinnacle, also known as The Bishopsgate Tower and The Helter-Skelter, is a , 63-storey skyscraper under construction in the centre of London's main financial district, the City of London. It is one of four major towers under construction in London, others being Shard London Bridge, 122...
and The Shard
Shard London Bridge
Shard London Bridge is a skyscraper under construction in Southwark, London. When completed in May 2012, it will be the tallest building in the European Union and the 45th-tallest building in the world, standing tall...
. As for the tallest building at Canary Wharf, One Canada Square is currently the tallest building there, but it may be overtaken as the tallest building by Riverside Tower 1
Riverside South (Canary Wharf)
Riverside South is a proposed skyscraper development in Canary Wharf, London. Some below ground-level work has been carried out by the investment bank JP Morgan, which bought a 999 year lease on the site with the intention of making the building its London office, but the firm now plans to move...
.
As for the tallest building in the European Union, One Canada Square never achieved the title as tallest skyscraper in the European Union's because in accordance to the CTBUH method, a building has to be completed before its receives its title, so as MesseTurm
Messeturm
The Messeturm is a skyscraper in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Its name translates as "Fair Tower" in German. It is the second tallest building in Frankfurt, the second tallest building in Germany. The Messeturm's ground floor area is just . The Messeturm is directly located in the Frankfurt Trade...
was completed in 1990, and One Canada Square was completed in 1991, it cannot claim that title.
Terrorism
On 15 November 1992, the Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
attempted to place a large improvised explosive device
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
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
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
bridge to disrupt infrastructure and near the Canary Wharf Tower 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 pointed guns
Güns
Güns or Guens may refer to:* Kőszeg, Hungary * Kőszeg Mountains, Hungary * Akiva Güns , birth name of Akiva Eger, a Hungarian-Polish rabbi- See also :* Guns * Gün, a surname...
at the security guards. The security guards tried to calm the situation thus challenged the two men, but the men shot the guards and decided to flee the scene having accomplished their mission. Other Canary Wharf Security guards pursued them as far as the boundary of the wharf, but the men escaped. Armed police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
were on the scene within minutes and the army bomb squad discovered that the vehicle contained a bomb. The detonator
Detonator
A detonator is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the latter two being the most common....
failed to ignite the main charge, and the bomb did not go off, so there was no bomb damage to Canary Wharf. 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. As a result of this attempted bombing, the observation floor was closed (see Public access section) and security was dramatically increased at Canary Wharf.
On 9 February 1996, the IRA did detonate a large bomb at South Quay, south of Canary Wharf (outside of Canary Wharf), which killed two people and devastated several buildings. This explosion is commonly, but erroneously, referred to as the "Canary Wharf bomb"
1996 Docklands bombing
The Docklands bombing occurred on 9 February 1996. It was conducted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and brought an end to their seventeen-month ceasefire...
.
There have been many news articles in recent years stating that the towers at Canary Wharf have been a target for terrorism. However, some of these plots have been denied by the government. One plot was confirmed on 4 April 2008, when a terror cell appeared at Woolwich Crown Court
Woolwich Crown Court
Woolwich Crown Court, located at 2 Belmarsh Road, Thamesmead is one of twelve Crown Courts serving Greater London.It stands adjacent to both HM Prison Belmarsh and Belmarsh Magistrate's Court. Operational from 1993, it has 7 courtrooms and deals with more than 750 cases a year. Until recently,...
accused of targeting Canary Wharf. The men denied the charges, but were found guilty for planning attacks on the Canary Wharf skyscrapers.
Television interference
As the Canary Wharf Tower is the first skyscraper to be clad in stainless steelStainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
with metallised windows, this may have caused television reception
Television antenna
A television antenna, or TV aerial, is an antenna specifically designed for the reception of over the air broadcast television signals, which are transmitted at frequencies from about 41 to 250 MHz in the VHF band, and 470 to 960 MHz in the UHF band in different countries...
interference for local people living in the area. In the case Patricia Hunter and others v. Canary Wharf Ltd.[1997], the House of Lords concluded there is no legal right to receive good television reception. Patricia Hunter and others lost the case because of a variety of reasons that included:
- the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
built a new relay station so there was no long-term television interference - it was interference with a purely recreational facility, as opposed to interference with the health or physical comfort or well-being of the plaintiffs
- nothing was emitted from the defendants' land
In Spring 2001, the BBC received some television interference complaints from residents in the Poplar
Poplar, London
Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...
area (north of Canary Wharf). A possible cause for the interference are the other Canary Wharf towers being built. Their advice was to get digital television, satellite or cable.
Cleaning protest
In March 2004, a window was broken in the lobby of One Canada Square during a protest about wages for cleaners. Cleaners were being paid low wages whilst bankers at Canary Wharf were earning £1 million. Although the protest was relatively peaceful, there was some damage. The shattered glass panel was 12 feet (3.7 m) high and 1 inches (2.5 cm) thick. The window was boarded up and replaced within hours.Cinema
One Canada Square has been featured in many films. It was featured many times in the movie 28 Weeks Later28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British/Spanish film sequel to the 2002 post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later. 28 Weeks Later was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and released in the United Kingdom and United States on 11 May 2007...
where the tower and the Docklands area around it are one of the main settings for the post-apocalyptic horror-thriller. Another high profile film was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Michael Goldenberg and produced by David Heyman and David Barron...
, where Harry
Harry Potter (character)
Harry James Potter is the title character and main protagonist of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. The majority of the books' plot covers seven years in the life of the orphan Potter who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard...
and some members of the Order of the Phoenix pass next to One Canada Square as they head to Grimmauld Place near the beginning of the movie on their broomsticks.
The tower has also been featured in a few spy films. Exposure was given to the tower in The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
, as James Bond
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
sails past One Canada Square. Another spy film was The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Supremacy is the second Jason Bourne novel written by Robert Ludlum, first published in 1986. It was the sequel to Ludlum's bestseller The Bourne Identity and precedes Ludlum's final Bourne novel, The Bourne Ultimatum ....
where One Canada Square appeared as the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
's London listening station. In the film Johnny English
Johnny English
Johnny English is a 2003 British action comedy film parodying the James Bond secret agent genre. The film stars Rowan Atkinson as the incompetent titular English spy, with John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Tim Pigott-Smith and Ben Miller in supporting roles...
, One Canada Square had another identical building next to it, where one of the One Canada Square buildings was a hospital and the other was villain Pascal Sauvage's HQ.
Other films featuring the Canary Wharf Tower can be read from a publication called Canary Wharf And Isle Of Dogs Movie Map.
Television
One Canada Square has appeared many times on British television. It has appeared in the television series Doctor WhoDoctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
(in the episode Army of Ghosts
Army of Ghosts
"Army of Ghosts" is the twelfth and penultimate episode in the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who which was first broadcast on 1 July 2006...
), as the location of the Torchwood Institute
Torchwood Institute
The Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
, under the name "Torchwood Tower". It has appeared in the series The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People
The Tomorrow People is a British children's science fiction television series, devised by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran between 1973 and 1979. The series was re-imagined in 1992, Roger Price acting as executive producer...
, as the headquarters for Sam Rees. The tower also made multiple appearances on the television show The Apprentice (UK)
The Apprentice (UK)
The Apprentice is a British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as an apprentice to the British business magnate Lord Sugar in series one to six...
.
During the 1990s, One Canada Square was home to the television station L!VE TV
L!VE TV
L!VE TV was a British television station that was operated by MGN on cable television from 15 August 1995 - 31 October 1999. It was later revived for Sky Digital from 2003...
who broadcast live from the tower.
Literature
A near future sequence in the novel Freezeframes by Katharine KerrKatharine Kerr
Katharine Kerr is a science fiction and fantasy novelist, best known for her series of Celtic-influenced high fantasy novels set in the fictional land of Deverry.- Biography :...
, shows One Canada Square as a free college and youth drop-in centre. It is nicknamed "Major's Last Erection", referring to John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
.
One Canada Square previously appeared in the Virgin Missing Adventures
Virgin Missing Adventures
The Virgin Missing Adventures were a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which had been cancelled in 1989, featuring stories set between televised episodes of the programme. The novels were published from 1994 to 1997, and...
novel Millennial Rites
Millennial Rites
Millennial Rites is an original novel written by Craig Hinton and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
in which the top floor was the headquarters of a yuppie who inadvertently turned London into a "dark fantasy
Dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a term used to describe a fantasy story with a pronounced horror element.-Overview:A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L...
" kingdom in which he was a powerful sorcerer, with the tower as his citadel; and the Past Doctor Adventures
Past Doctor Adventures
The Past Doctor Adventures were a series of spin-off novels based on the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and published under the BBC Books imprint. For most of their existence, they were published side-by-side with the Eighth Doctor Adventures...
novel The Time Travellers
The Time Travellers
The Time Travellers is a BBC Books original novel written by Simon Guerrier and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan.-External links:*...
, in which it was the headquarters of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in an alternate timeline
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
.
One Canada Square also features prominently in an early issue of the Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
comic series The Invisibles
The Invisibles
The Invisibles is a comic book series that was published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication....
, in which Dane MacGowan is encouraged to jump from the top by his mentor, Tom O'Bedlam, as an initiation rite that will allow him to see beyond reality and join The Invisibles.