Wired UK - 11.2019

New horizons

for high tech

Designing 22 Bishopsgate – at 278 metres,

the UK’s second tallest skyscraper – required

some blue-sky thinking from the architects

London’s new skyscraper

may only be the second

tallest in the UK (after The

Shard), but its 278 metres

are the height of technology.

The 62 storeys of 22

Bishopsgate, due to open in

autumn 2019, build in a host

of innovations, including a

bespoke app for the 12,000

workers. “We want it to be a

portal into the building, and

a technological environment

to interact with the building,”

says Danny Hall, of Lipton

Rogers Developments.

Adding a tower to a complex

skyline can cause the air to

move in mysterious ways,

so PLP Architecture – which

designed the building –

worked with engineers from

Formula 1 to create large-

scale canopies, similar to

those on the back of a car, to

tamp down wind flow.

The delivery management

system was designed by an

ex-army engineer to reduce

traffic. “Instead of going to

the building, all goods go to a

dispatch centre outside the

City. They are stored until

the tenant requires them,”

explains PLP’s Karen Cook.

Chris Stokel-Walker

ENTRY LEVEL

A biometric

security system,

using facial

recognition, can regulate access

to the building

HEIGHT CLUBThe 42nd floor fitness centre boasts the highest indoor climbing wall in the UK

DRAFT DODGE

Formula 1 engineers

developed an aerodynamic

facade to reduce

downdrafts

PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTIN RICHARDSON

11-19-ST22Bishopsgate.indd 28 13/09/2019 15:58