Southwark Towers

Southwark Towers
Southwark Towers
	Southwark Towers
General information
Status	Demolished
Architectural style	Modernism
Location	Southwark, London, England
Construction started	1970
Completed	1975
Demolished	2008
Height
Roof	100 m (328 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	25
Floor area	19,800 m2 (213,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	tp bennett
Developer	Peachey Property Corporation
Main contractor	Sir Robert McAlpine
References

Southwark Towers was a high rise building at 32 London Bridge Street, designed by TP Bennett architects, overlooking London Bridge station, in Southwark, London. When it was demolished in 2008 to make way for The Shard, it was jointly the tallest building ever to have been demolished in the United Kingdom, alongside the Drapers' Gardens tower.

History

Completed in 1975,^[2] it was 100 metres (330 ft) tall and had 25 floors^[3] in three wings. Southwark Towers was formerly the London office of Price Waterhouse before it merged with Coopers & Lybrand in 1998.^[4] The property attracted some political interest in the 1970s when the developer, Peachey Property Corporation ('PPC'), got into financial difficulties. It was subsequently alleged that the transaction to develop the property might not have been entered into on an arm's length basis and that there might have been an element of bounty or kindness from PPC to Price Waterhouse, who happened to be PPC's auditors. Department of Trade inspectors dismissed the allegations.^[5] In 1998 the building was acquired by Irvine Sellar, a property developer.^[6]

In 2008,^[3] the building was demolished to make way for The Shard.^[7] The typical way to demolish a building in the United Kingdom is by implosion, but due to its close proximity to Guy's Hospital and other buildings, Southwark Towers was instead taken apart in pieces. It was the tallest building ever to have been demolished in the United Kingdom.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Southwark Towers". Skyscraper City. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
^ "Change of Address" (classified advertisement by Price Waterhouse & Co.), The Times, 1975-12-01, p.22
^ ^a ^b "Southwark Towers, London". Skyscraperpage. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
^ "Shard construction moves closer with £196 million deal". London SE1. 19 September 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
^ "Peachey Property Corporation". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 15 March 1979. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
^ "London's Shard skyscraper rises above its critics". BBC. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
^ "Qatar's Shard the tallest building in Europe now". Gulf-times.com. 3 January 2012. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.