The recently opened Horizon 22, the highest free observation deck in Europe, joins a growing collection of observation decks in central London. Photo: 22 Bishopsgate
Londoners love to look down on visitors to the Shard, Gherkin and Walkie Talkie.
The free viewing gallery at the new 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper will open to the public on Wednesday. Horizon 22 is at an altitude of 254 meters and is the highest observation deck in Europe.
It's no small feat, with viewing platforms popping up across London at a rate of knots as part of a concerted effort to force developers to offer more public spaces.
Authorities are motivated by fears that central London could become a ghost town for much of the week if hybrid working takes hold. They hope attracting tourists rather than part-time office workers can help boost the city's economy.
However, these requirements come at a cost to developers, and the viewing platforms may also face criticism from locals concerned that London is becoming an aquarium.
Meanwhile, others point out that observation decks are a rather blunt instrument. to attract visitors. As one Reddit user put it when commenting on news of yet another development, «I love all these free viewing galleries where I can look at all the other free viewing galleries.»
The idea of putting a public observation deck in a skyscraper came up during the construction of the Shard complex at London Bridge, which opened its doors in 2013 and welcomed almost 1 million visitors in its first year.
Today there are at least eight free viewing platforms in central London, with more being built. Most of them are clustered around the Square Mile, just across the Thames from where the Shard stands.
2,709 London viewpoints
Stuart Bailey, partner and head of planning at Knight Frank, says: «The City of London has really made this policy requirement to have viewing platforms on the top floors of buildings, rather than having something on the ground floor that is publicly accessible.»
The City of London Corporation, which manages the Square Mile, has increased demand for public attractions such as viewing platforms to attract tourists to business districts.
With doubts over whether staff would ever return to the office full-time, the city has committed to spending £2.5 million a year to revitalize the area with attractions and events. Part of the destination city plan, launched in 2022, included making skyscrapers more accessible to the public.
Shravan Joshi, Chairman of the City of London Corporation, said: “Creating structures that will welcome and surprise all visitors through the planning and built environment is a key part of the City Corporation's flagship Destination City programme.
“Free public viewing galleries have already proven effective in attracting visitors and spending to the Square Mile. .
Experts say a cheese grater at 122 Leadenhall Street would struggle to get planning permission today. The narrowing of the upper floors means that in 2014 it was built without a public gallery.
Structural engineer Chris Edgington of Arup was involved in the construction of one of these skyscrapers with a public gallery.
p>While he says it is positive that local leaders are trying to balance the needs of the public and developers, the costs should not be underestimated , he says.
Developers are missing out on revenue from expensive floors that would otherwise turn into “very nice office space.”
«Over the life of the building, the developer's losses could easily approach seven figures because what you're thinking about is a 10, 15 or 25-year lease,» he says.
Transporting thousands of members of the public up and down the building, which is also used by, say, banks and insurance companies. additional elevators, a separate entrance and an increase in staff are required.
“Many occupants of these buildings will be very security conscious,” says Edgington. “We therefore need to ensure that people visiting the viewing gallery cannot simply have free reign in the rest of the building.”
A stone's throw from the Horizon 22 galleries, developers received the go-ahead to build another 235-metre tower with a public observation deck in July.
Plans for 1 Undershaft, which is 301 meters tall, will soon be unveiled. will overtake 22 Bishopsgate as the tallest public gallery in Europe.
A spokesperson for 1 Undershaft said: “The new proposals will provide a significant package of cultural and creative spaces that matches the City of London Corporation's ambitions in the destination city. These include a public garden at the very top of the building.»
But how many viewing platforms can such a small area support?
Edgington says: «If you put 10 buildings of the same height and height, do you need 10 viewing galleries or do you need 10 different offerings that people will be interested in?»
Critics also argue that the City of London is short-sighted in its focus. on these elevated viewing platforms.
«There is no management policy around the cumulative impact when you have so many large buildings in one place,» says Ben Dewfield-Oakley of Save Britain's Heritage.
«These buildings are obviously so large that they affect even long-distance protected views of important buildings such as St Paul's Cathedral.”
As well as concerns about views, there are also concerns about privacy.
Local residents living opposite Tate Modern have been involved in a long-running legal battle with the gallery over an observation deck overlooking their apartments.
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