Tower 42

Once the tallest building in both the UK and London, Tower 42, known originally as the National Westminster (Natwest) Tower, continues to be a prominent landmark on the city skyline, but is slowly being enveloped by a selection of newer, taller structures sprouting from almost out of nowhere!

Proposals for Tower 42 go back to the early 1960's, where the precursor company to Natwest, National Provincial Bank, desired a new headquarters. Design was handed to Swiss architect Richard Seifert, famous for many 1960's and 70's skyscraper designs such as the 1966 Centre Point tower on the Tottenham Court Road. Early proposals in 1964 ranged from a 450ft tower, to a later 647ft tower, both of which met with extreme opposition and controversy. Tower 42 was to be the first skyscraper constructed in the ancient City of London, and much criticism was to the proposed demolition of National Provincial's then headquarters, 15 Bishopsgate, which opened in 1865. Seifert however was notorious for overcoming the issues of planning objections, and eventually his final two designs were exhibited for a final consensus on what the new building would be. One design was a 600ft, 42 floor high building, comprised of a central core and three surrounding leaves, whilst the other design were a pair of 500ft tall Twin Towers. General opinion was that the Twin Tower design would look squat and ugly, and thus almost unanimously the single tower design was chosen. In an interesting twist, many believe that from above the design of the tower was meant to emulate the new Natwest Logo of 1968 when the bank was formed from the merger of the National Provincial and the Westminster Bank, but Seifert denied this as an urban myth, and had no intention to design the building as such.

Demolition of the original National Provincial headquarters began in 1970, and construction of the Natwest Tower was handed to contractor John Mowlem & Co. The building's design is of a peculiar kind, with none of the 42 floors above the surface being in contact with the ground, but are suspended by cantilevers from a huge central concrete core. The individual cantilever sections are split into the three leaves that look as though they form the Natwest Chevrons when looked at from above. The tower was also notable for many innovative design features, including double-decked elevators, which provide an express service between the ground/mezzanine levels and the sky lobbies at levels 23 and 24. Double decked elevators and sky lobbies were both new to the UK at the time. Other innovative features included an internal automated "mail train" used for mail deliveries and document distribution; an automated external window washing system; and computer controlled air conditioning. The tower also had its own telephone exchange in one of the basement levels – this area was decorated with panoramic photographs of the London skyline, creating the illusion of being above ground. Fire suppression design features included pressurised stairwells, smoke venting and fire retardant floor barriers. However, at the time of design, fire sprinkler systems were not mandatory in the UK and so were not installed.

The tower was completed in 1980, and the first tenants moved in the same year, with overall construction costing £72 million (£276 million today). The tower was officially opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II on June 11th, 1981, as the first skyscraper to be build in the old City of London, and as the tallest building in the UK. The tower however was not the tallest structure in the UK, that distinction going to the 1971 Emley Moor transmitting station in Yorkshire, which stands at 1,087 ft. The structure did however remain Britain's tallest building until 1990, when it was surpassed by One Canada Square in the new Canary Wharf development, this structure standing at 800ft.

On the 24th April, 1993, the tower was severely damaged by a truck bomb planted by the Provisional IRA, killing 1 and injuring 44. The attacks halted the movement of the entire Natwest company into the building, and caused £1 billion worth of damage. As a result, the entire structure had to be refurbished at a cost of £75 million, with some considerations for demolishing the structure being pushed back due to the huge expense. Full rebuilding of the structure was completed in January 1996, but Natwest did not reoccupy after opening, moving instead to a new headquarters just down the road. The tower was renamed Tower 42 in 1995, and has been host to a variety of Tenants.

The 24th floor hosts a restaurant, whilst the 42nd floor, which was formerly the indoor observation deck, is now home to the Champagne and Seafood bar, Bar 42. This bar was made somewhat famous in 2006 with Top Gear, who raced from Alba, in Northern Italy, to Tower 42 in a Bugatti Veyron and a Cessna 182 light aircraft, the race ending in what could almost be described as a dead-heat, but with Jeremy winning shortly before in the Veyron.

Today the Tower is still an ominous London skyscraper, but is slowly disappearing behind the latest generation of tall buildings that have sprouted over the past few years. From the South Bank, the tower is practically out of sight, blocked by the new Walkie Talkie, and from the east the Gherkin and Heron Tower obscure its view. From the west and north it can still be seen, but its days as the one and only skyscraper to be built in the old City have long since been and gone.