When NLA’s London’s Growing Up! launched in 2014 there was one figure that grabbed everyone’s attention - 236 tall buildings were planned for London. It was the first time anyone had any idea of how many tall buildings were in the pipeline - even the GLA at the time - and it sparked a massive amount of debate and discussion, across London and the globe. 

 

We had originally been planning a public exhibition to showcase the new clusters of tall buildings rising up across the city when a conversation with our partners at GL Hearn sparked the idea of coming to a figure - how many tall buildings were being planned to join London’s skyline? Together, our teams brought together a mass of data available through the planning portals of local authorities, together with published and unpublished future plans for developments. At least 236 tall buildings, which we defined as 20 storeys or more, were being designed, going through the planning system or in construction across London.

We opened the exhibition in April 2014 in our galleries at The Building Centre, showcasing models, plans and images of London’s new tall buildings - I remember the whole team chipping in to get everything ready in the final hours and minutes before we opened, as they have done on many occasions over the years! On launch day we had reporters from around the world lining up to interview Peter Murray and the team on the new wave of towers planned for London; while over the three months of the exhibition, we were visited by politicians, councillors, professionals, Londoners, tourists, international delegations, universities, and school groups. In my now 11 years at NLA (beginning in 2009 as an intern, spending much time dusting the London model!) this was one of the most popular exhibitions we hosted. A huge public debate with LSE and Centre for London, chaired by Sarah Gaventa and including Julia Barfield, Paul Finch, Simon Jenkins, Rowan Moore and Nicky Gavron, had 1,000 people in the room to debate ‘Does London need more tall buildings?’. The debate captured the imagination of so many.

 

Our London Tall Buildings Survey is now an annual part of the calendar, and today that figure stands at 525 buildings over 20 storeys in the pipeline. The number no longer seems to shock people - tall buildings are a much more common part of the London skyline - and our analysis has broadened to look at the locations, uses, and integration of those tall towers into their neighbourhoods, as well as the impact that the disaster at Grenfell will have on tall buildings of the future.