黑洞社区

The developer behind 22 Bishopsgate has said the pandemic has meant tenants want more fresh air inside the building as the 62-storey tower begins to fill up after being completed last year.

Tenants moving into the City鈥檚 tallest building include the US law firms Cooley and Covington & Burling and insurance companies Hiscox and Beazley.

Developed by AXA IM Alts and Lipton Rogers and built by Multiplex, the building claims to have the highest smart building standards in Europe.

Tenants鈥� facilities will include a fresh food market, laundry facilities, a bike repair shop, a gym, along with social and communal spaces.

But in a video interview last week (see below), Peter Rogers admitted the building, which was first started in 2007 before being mothballed because of funding issues for the previous developer ahead of eventually resuming in 2016, needed to adapt in the wake of covid-19.

鈥淲e have got to bring more fresh air into the building which is one of the big demands at the moment,鈥� he said.

He added that the designs of the lifts has worked well in terms of covid compliance. 鈥淲e always wanted the lifts to run from the ground floor, we didn鈥檛 want a sky lobby where people congregate.

鈥淣ow that鈥檚 quite lucky because if people come in, they go straight to their lift bank and it takes it [them] straight to their floor, so that face-to-face contact has been reduced.鈥�

He admitted that 鈥渆nvironmentally I would change [22 Bishopsgate]鈥� but he added: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a building that should last for 100, 200 years. There鈥檚 no reason to knock it down, you could modernise it, refurbish it, you can adapt it.鈥�

Rogers also weighed into the issue of attracting more people into the industry that saw which included opening up 200 sites and running events with more than 40 construction firms.

He said: 鈥淓verybody thinks [construction] is being a bricklayer, a plumber or doing one of the skilled trades. Yes, of course, that鈥檚 an invaluable part of our industry but it鈥檚 also very wide-ranging - engineering skills, architecture, cost consultancy - and in general that鈥檚 not well explained. Careers advisors are not that clear what construction can be.鈥�

Sites taking part in the Open Doors initiative included Wates鈥� Lucent scheme at Piccadilly Circus, Mace鈥檚 Paddington Square development, which topped out last month, and the Alexander Stadium scheme in Birmingham which is being built by McLaughlin & Harvey and will host the athletics events at next year鈥檚 Commonwealth Games.