HSBC Tower, London
Encyclopedia
8 Canada Square is a skyscraper
located at Canary Wharf
in London
Docklands, Borough of Tower Hamlets
. The building serves as the global headquarters for the HSBC Group, the world's largest company by the Forbes Global 2000
in 2008 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 45 floors in the 200 metres (656 ft) high tower, the joint third tallest in the United Kingdom
with the Citigroup Centre.
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 been commissioned by the owners of the Canary Wharf Site to do the outline design prior to gaining site-wide outline planning permission, (and because he had designed HSBC'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 engineer
s for the project, and Davis Langdon & Everest (now Davis Langdon
) quantity surveyor
s.
took place on 7 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.
(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.
, becoming the first building in Britain to be sold for more than £1bn. On 5 December 2008, HSBC Holdings re-acquired ownership of the building, declaring that the agreement had resulted in a £250 million ($368 million) profit in the second half of the year. However, on 13 November 2009, HSBC once again sold the building, this time to the National Pension Service of Korea ('NPS') for £772.5 million. HSBC's income statement on completion declared a gain of approximately £350 million resulting from the transaction, which was finalised shortly before the end of the year 2009. Whether HSBC will attempt to take ownership of the building again in future remains unknown, but at present the building is fully occupied and continues to serve as the main headquarters of the company.
lion
s guarding the main entrance. These are copies of a pair nicknamed "Stephen" and "Stitt" which have stood outside the Bank's Headquarters at 1 Queen's Road Central in Hong Kong
since 1935. The Hong Kong lions are named after yet another pair of lions that guarded the Bank's Shanghai headquarters on The Bund after it opened in 1923. The original Stephen and Stitt were named for A G Stephen, the then Chief Manager and the driving force behind the Shanghai development, and G H Stitt, the Manager in Shanghai. This was an in-joke: The lions face each other, and one (Stephen) is portrayed as if roaring, the other sitting quietly. Messrs Stephen and Stitt were said to have personalities as diverse.
The lions were cast within sight of the development by the Bronze Age Sculpture Casting Foundry in Limehouse.
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
.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
located at Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Docklands, Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
. The building serves as the global headquarters for the HSBC Group, the world's largest company by the Forbes Global 2000
Forbes Global 2000
The Forbes Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is based on a mix of four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value...
in 2008 and houses around 8,000 staff.
The tower was designed by Sir Norman Foster's
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....
team of architects. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. There are 45 floors in the 200 metres (656 ft) high tower, the joint third tallest in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
with the Citigroup Centre.
Proposal
With the movement of HSBC Group's headquarters from Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
to London in 1993, the firm decided that having thousands of employees scattered across the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
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
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
was chosen for the location and space available.
Having been commissioned by the owners of the Canary Wharf Site to do the outline design prior to gaining site-wide outline planning permission, (and because he had designed HSBC's last head office at 1 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong), Sir Norman Foster (now Lord Foster of Thames Bank)
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....
was appointed as architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
. Arup
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...
became structural engineer
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
s for the project, and Davis Langdon & Everest (now Davis Langdon
Davis Langdon
Davis Langdon an AECOM company, is a construction consultancy firm headquartered in London, UK with 30 offices throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East, and over 100 worldwide. The firm has a turnover of £154 million throughout Europe and the Middle East and £580 million globally...
) quantity surveyor
Quantity surveyor
A quantity surveyor is a professional working within the construction industry concerned with building costs.The profession is one that provides a qualification gained following formal education, specific training and experience that provides a general set of skills that are then applied to a...
s.
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.Accident
During the construction of the building on 21 May 2000, a crane collapsed killing three construction workers. The Coroner heard that the three men died instantly from the impact of the 450 ft (137.2 m) fall.Completion
The topping out ceremonyTopping out
In building construction, topping out is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building's structure, or an intermediate point, such as when the roof is dried in...
took place on 7 March 2001, with the hoisting in of the final steel girder attended by bankers, journalists and contractors
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
. 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
John Bond (banker)
Sir John Reginald Hartnell Bond retired as chairman of HSBC Holdings plc on 26 May 2006, after spending 45 years with the bank. He took up the position of Chairman of Vodafone in July 2006....
, taking place on 2 April 2003.
Surrounding buildings
Standing alongside the HSBC Tower are One Canada SquareOne Canada Square
One Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom since 1991, standing at above ground level and containing 50 storeys...
(popularly known as the Canary Wharf Tower); and the Citigroup Centre, which forms the British head office of the multinational US bank, Citigroup
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
. It is also next door to Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
. The tower is not open to the public.
Financial cost
Counting from its official opening in April 2003, it was only four years before difficulties emerged in managing the building and its associated costs. In April 2007, HSBC Tower was sold to Spanish property company MetrovacesaMetrovacesa
Metrovacesa S.A. is a major Spanish property company, headquartered in Madrid, which was the largest publicly-traded real estate developer in the Eurozone prior to the June 2007 creation of Unibail-Rodamco...
, becoming the first building in Britain to be sold for more than £1bn. On 5 December 2008, HSBC Holdings re-acquired ownership of the building, declaring that the agreement had resulted in a £250 million ($368 million) profit in the second half of the year. However, on 13 November 2009, HSBC once again sold the building, this time to the National Pension Service of Korea ('NPS') for £772.5 million. HSBC's income statement on completion declared a gain of approximately £350 million resulting from the transaction, which was finalised shortly before the end of the year 2009. Whether HSBC will attempt to take ownership of the building again in future remains unknown, but at present the building is fully occupied and continues to serve as the main headquarters of the company.
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. The wall was manufactured and installed by Supersine Duramark (SSDM) - a company specialising in commercial graphics and large-format printing in the UK.Stephen and Stitt
8 Canada Square has a pair of bronzeBronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s guarding the main entrance. These are copies of a pair nicknamed "Stephen" and "Stitt" which have stood outside the Bank's Headquarters at 1 Queen's Road Central in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
since 1935. The Hong Kong lions are named after yet another pair of lions that guarded the Bank's Shanghai headquarters on The Bund after it opened in 1923. The original Stephen and Stitt were named for A G Stephen, the then Chief Manager and the driving force behind the Shanghai development, and G H Stitt, the Manager in Shanghai. This was an in-joke: The lions face each other, and one (Stephen) is portrayed as if roaring, the other sitting quietly. Messrs Stephen and Stitt were said to have personalities as diverse.
The lions were cast within sight of the development by the Bronze Age Sculpture Casting Foundry in Limehouse.
Key facts
- Office space — 102190 square metres (1,099,964 sq ft).
- Floors — 42 above ground.
- Staff restaurantRestaurantA restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
— 850 seater facility is the largest of its kind in Europe, serving around 2,500 meals daily. - ConcreteConcreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
— 180,000 tonnes. - SteelSteelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
— 14,000 tonnes. - GlassGlassGlass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
— 45,000 square metres or 484200 square feet (44,983.7 m²). - The building was sold in 2007 to Spanish real-estate firm MetrovacesaMetrovacesaMetrovacesa S.A. is a major Spanish property company, headquartered in Madrid, which was the largest publicly-traded real estate developer in the Eurozone prior to the June 2007 creation of Unibail-Rodamco...
for £1.09 billion. It is the biggest ever property deal in British history. - HSBC had bought back the tower from Metrovacesa for £838 million in 2008, but sold it to the National Pension Service of Korea in 2009.
Transport
The nearest tube station is Canary WharfCanary Wharf tube station
Canary Wharf tube station is a London Underground station on the Jubilee Line, between and . It is in Travelcard Zone 2 and was opened by Ken Livingstone setting an escalator in motion on 17 September 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension. It is maintained by Tube Lines...
serving the Jubilee Line
Jubilee Line
The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground , in the United Kingdom. It was built in two major sections—initially to Charing Cross, in central London, and later extended, in 1999, to Stratford, in east London. The later stations are larger and have special safety features, both aspects...
, which can be reached undercover via Canada Place shopping centre, and Canary Wharf DLR station
Canary Wharf DLR station
Canary Wharf DLR station is a Docklands Light Railway station in London, England. Built into the base of One Canada Square, between two parts of a shopping centre, it serves the Canary Wharf office complex...
serving the Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
. A bus service ran to London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
, now replaced by the Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
.
See also
- Torre HSBC Mexico
- One Canada SquareOne Canada SquareOne Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is the tallest completed building in the United Kingdom since 1991, standing at above ground level and containing 50 storeys...
a taller neighbouring building - List of tallest structures in London
- List of tallest buildings and structures in the United Kingdom