Gipsy Hill tenant and her nephew in hospital after council house ceiling gives way again
Venesha Rose says repairs to her Lambeth Council home failed to fix the cause, and she has been raising leaks with the council since 2024.
£1bn plan would carve terraces out of the top of the HSBC Tower
Plans lodged with Tower Hamlets would add a 181-room hotel, a rooftop glass box called The Cloud and a public route through to the Elizabeth line station.
Key facts
- 45-storey HSBC Tower would get cut-away upper floors and open-air terraces
- Plans submitted to Tower Hamlets Council by the Qatar Investment Authority and Canary Wharf Group
- Cost put at £800 million to £1 billion, with Kohn Pedersen Fox designing the scheme
- Lower floors would hold a 181-room hotel and a public route to the Elizabeth line station
Chunks would be cut out of the upper floors of the 45-storey HSBC Tower at Canary Wharf under plans now sitting with Tower Hamlets Council. The Qatar Investment Authority, which owns the building, has lodged them with its development partner, Canary Wharf Group.
The bill for the job is put somewhere in the £800 million to £1 billion range. The design comes from Kohn Pedersen Fox, whose drawings slice staggered, open-air terraces into the top of the tower. Those gaps have already earned the scheme a nickname, the “Swiss Cheese” building.
What is planned inside the HSBC Tower at Canary Wharf
The tower has spent its life as a single-occupier office block. Under the plans it would be carved up between several uses. The highest floors would hold the terraces and a glass box called “The Cloud”, with an entertainment venue, restaurants and bars looking out over the estate. The middle of the building would become flexible workspace for a number of corporate tenants, and the asset manager BlackRock has been linked with taking space there.
Lower down, the plans set out a 181-room hotel and leisure facilities. A public walkway would be driven through the ground floor to link Canada Square Park with the Elizabeth line station next door.
When the work would start
HSBC’s lease ends next year, and the bank is taking its head office into the City of London instead. Once it has gone in 2027 the interiors would be stripped out. Work on the building’s core is pencilled in for 2028, and nobody has yet put a date on when the tower would reopen.
Shobi Khan, chief executive of Canary Wharf Group, called the scheme a major step in turning the estate into a “15-minute city”. Other well-known London commercial buildings have gone the same way, including the BT Tower, which is being turned into a luxury hotel.
Key questions
Who is behind the HSBC Tower redevelopment?
The Qatar Investment Authority owns the building and is working with Canary Wharf Group. Kohn Pedersen Fox are the architects.
When is HSBC leaving the Canary Wharf tower?
Its lease ends next year and it is due to vacate in 2027, taking its head office into the City of London.
When would the building work start?
Stripping out would follow HSBC's departure in 2027, with the core works pencilled in for 2028. No reopening date has been given.
What would be inside the rebuilt tower?
Terraces and a glass box called The Cloud with an entertainment venue, restaurants and bars at the top, flexible offices in the middle, and a 181-room hotel and leisure facilities below.
Ombudsman again criticises HMP Wandsworth over emergency codes after 2021 death
No control room record shows when a code blue was called after Aktar Uddin was found unresponsive in his cell on Christmas Day 2021.
Hammersmith and Fulham weighs council tax rises of up to 150% to fill £160m gap
Under the largest option, a Band D bill would reach £2,522.50 a year before the GLA precept. The council leader says protecting services comes first.
Ruptured gas main on Old Broad Street forces about 4,700 out of City buildings
A 200m cordon between Threadneedle Street and London Wall was lifted shortly before 2pm. Great Winchester Street stays closed while Cadent repairs the pipe.