A third skyscraper is to be built to complete a “trilogy” of towers to go alongside the Shard and Baby Shard.
A new 180,000 sq ft residential tower with 148 flats will sit next to the Shard and its baby, The News Building.
Designed by award-winning architect Renzo Piano, the structure will replace the 1950s office building Fielden House.
Planning permission was granted just before Christmas and work is set to be completed by 2018.
The man behind the project, Irvine Sellar, told trade journal Construction News he wants to create a new district called the London Bridge Quarter, to rival Chelsea and Covent Garden.
He said: “The expansion of London Bridge Quarter will continue to grow and it won’t be just with properties we own but it’ll be our neighbours and other developers who will make the district as well.”
Mr Sellar also revealed how difficult it was to get the Shard built.
“The world was against us,” he said. The 9/11 attacks were fresh in people’s minds, making Southwark Council planners, among others, concerned.
“[They wanted to know] how aircraft proof this tower would be against aircraft smashing into it.”
