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| 8 Canada Square | |
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| Information | |
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| Location | 8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf development in the London Docklands |
| Status | Complete |
| Constructed | 1999-2002 |
| Roof | 200 metres (656 ft) |
| Floor count | 42 |
| Companies | |
| Architect | Foster and Partners |
8 Canada Square (also known as HSBC Group Head Office, or HSBC Tower) is a skyscraper located in the Canary Wharf development in the London Docklands. The building serves as the international headquarters for the HSBC group, the world's largest company by the Forbes Global 20001 and houses around 8,000 staff.
The tower was designed by Sir Norman Foster's team of architects. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. There are 42 floors in the 200 metres (656 ft) high tower, the joint second largest in the United Kingdom with the Citigroup Centre. Standing alongside the HSBC Tower are One Canada Square (popularly known as the Canary Wharf Tower); and the Citigroup Centre, which forms the British head office of the multinational US bank, Citigroup. It is also next door to Bank of America. The tower is not open to the public.
In April 2007, it became the first building in Britain to be sold for more than £1bn.2 The tower was sold to Spanish property company Metrovacesa.
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Proposal
With the movement of HSBC's group headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993, the firm decided that having thousands of employees scattered across the City of London was not an ideal situation. Between 1995 and 1997 a number of proposals were considered, including the redevelopment of the previous Group Head Office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London, however the DS-2 plot at Canary Wharf was chosen for the location and space available.
Having designed the Group's last head office at 1 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong, Sir Norman Foster (now Lord Foster of Thames Bank) was appointed as architect. Arup became structural engineers for the project, and Davis Langdon & Everest (now Davis Langdon) quantity surveyors.
Construction
Construction began in January 1999, with work beginning on the installation of the 4,900 glass panels commencing in summer 2000. The work was carried out by Canary Wharf Contractors.3
Accident
During the construction of the building (2000) a man fell from the 42nd floor and died on impactcitation needed.
Completion
The topping out ceremony took place in March 2001, with the hoisting in of the final steel girder attended by bankers, journalists and contractors. The first HSBC employees began work in the building on 2 September 2002, with phased occupation completed by 17 February 2003, and the building's official opening, by Sir John Bond, taking place on 2 April 2003.
Notable features
In line with HSBC's environmental principles energy efficient systems have been installed from the outset, along with recyclable furniture and equipment.
History Wall
A competition was held in order to select a feature for the ground floor lobby, unveiled by the then Group Chief Executive Sir Keith Whitson, the HSBC History Wall includes history, achievements and values of the Group from the 18th to 21st centuries. The wall is 6.6 metres (22 ft) tall, with 3,743 images, including documents, photographs, portraits and illustrations of staff, buildings, businesses and events.
Stephen and Stitt
In common with other HSBC head office buildings, 8 Canada Square has a pair of bronze lions guarding the main entrance. These are copies of those which have stood outside 1 Queen's Road Central in Hong Kong since 1935, which are themselves copies of the original pair that stood outside the HSBC Building, Shanghai from 1923. There are eight coins inside each base in connection with the good fortune associated with it in Chinese tradition. The lions are named Stephen and Stitt after the managers of the Hong Kong and Shanghai branches respectively at the time of the original casting in 1923.
Key facts
- Office space — 102,190 square metres or 1.1 million square feet.
- Floors — 42 above ground.
- Trading floors — housing the London treasury, capital markets and equities trading operations — are, at 4,180 square metres (45,000 sq ft), one of the largest such locations in Europe, able to house up to 570 staff per floor.
- Staff restaurant — 850 seater facility is the largest of its kind in Europe, serving around 2,500 meals daily.
- Concrete — 180,000 tons.
- Steel — 14,000 tons.
- Glass — 45,000 square metres or 484,200 square feet (44,980 m2).
- The building was sold in 2007 to Spanish real-estate firm Metrovacesa for £1.09 billion. It is the biggest ever property deal in British history.citation needed
Transport
The nearest tube station is Canary Wharf serving the Jubilee Line, which can be reached undercover via Canada Place shopping centre, and Canary Wharf DLR station serving the Docklands Light Railway. A bus service ran to London City Airport, now replaced by the Docklands Light Railway.
See also
- Torre HSBC Mexico
- One Canada Square a neighbouring building; the tallest in the UK
- List of tallest structures in London
- List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
References
- ^ The Global 2000, Forbes
- ^ SkyscraperNews.com (April 2007). "HSBC Tower Sold For Record Price" (HTML). SkyscraperNews.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
- ^ Canary Wharf Contractors website
External links
- Skyscrapernews file on HSBC
- Foster and Partners' website
- BBC News article about the enquiry into the accident
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