London could become home to another skyscraper by Renzo Piano, the architect behind The Shard. The 224-meter high cylindrical tower will be located at Paddington Station, where developer Sellar Property Group decided to redevelop the former Royal Mail sorting office site. It is expected to provide 200 homes, offices, shops and other commercial functions distributed across 4,000 square meters of new public space.
The 65-storey tower will be located at 31 London Street, where it is expected to play an important role in connecting the railway station and the entrance to the Bakerloo tube line, ultimately doing performing in a similar way as the Shard does within the London Bridge area.
The £1 billion development is meant to address the congestion currently plaguing Paddington and create a sense of atmosphere currently lacking. “The creation of urban public realm has been at the forefront of our design,” said Renzo Piano. “This site shares much of the same DNA with its proximity to a major transport hub with tube, railway lines and bus routes, a neighboring leading teaching hospital and the potential to provide much needed quality public realm,” he added.
Related: Renzo Piano’s Bulbous Pathé Foundation Headquarters Nears Completion in Paris
The architect recently unveiled plans to convert a Moscow power station into a solar-powered arts center. His new cylindrical tower could become the fourth tallest in London, right behind The Shard, One Canada Square and 110 Bishopgate. The tower is slated for completion in 2020, two years after the east-west Crossrail line opens at Paddington.
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Via Dezeen
