The only way is up: Secrets of the City's skyscraper boom

Despite the hybrid working revolution, the race for space in the Square Mile shows no sign of slowing down.

- By Jonathan Prynn

In a little over two months' time, the City of London Corporation's ponderously named Planning Applications Sub-Committee will sit in judgment on two more vast skyscrapers for the Square Mile.

It may not sound the most exciting municipal body in the land, but this group of local representatives - known as Common Councillors and Aldermen in the arcane parlance of Britain's oldest local authority are deciding on the most rapid and spectacular skyline transformation ever seen in the UK (the Blitz not included).

In 20 years London's business district has been transformed. What was, in 2005, still an essentially low-rise area with just the isolated landmarks of the former NatWest Tower and the Gherkin spearing the horizon is now home to one of the biggest clusters of tall buildings in Europe. And there is much more to come.

A further 13 new City skyscrapers are under construction or in the planning pipeline. It is a fair bet that they will all go through, adding yet more concrete, glass and steel to the forest of towers now visible from as far away as Ascot and Guildford. On July 8, two more planning applications will be on the agenda.

One is the 30-storey office block at 85 Gracechurch Street. The developer, Mauritius-headquartered Hertshten Properties, wants to build a 234,000 sq ft building close to the Grade-II* listed Leadenhall Market. The plans include a permanent public exhibition space in the basement, after archaeological investigations uncovered the foundations and walls of a Roman basilica dating from the 1st century AD.

The other is for a 46-storey "biodiverse" tower at 63 St Mary Axe from French-owned developer Axa IM Alts. The 176m tall building, planned to be built next to the so-called "Can of Ham" and close to the Gherkin, will replace two nondescript blocks built as recently as 1989. Features include a new street-level open space called Camomile Park and garden terraces running down the building.