The Tulip

The Tulip Tower in London

A 305-metre skyscraper called “The Tulip” will become the tallest building in the City of London if plans for it are approved. Designed by architects Foster + Partners and proposed for a site near 30 St Mary Axe (also known as The Gherkin), the structure is inspired by nature in both form and concept and could change the London skyline.

Developers involved in the planning proposal said construction would begin in 2020 and could be completed by 2025, if permission is granted by the City of London Corporation.
A new publicly accessible public garden is also proposed on a revitalised St Mary Axe site and the architects have promised that a “minimal” building footprint will be made possible by high-performance glass and integrated photovoltaic cells. Foster + Partners said the final weight of the building would be “equivalent to 80 fully loaded Airbus A380s on a footprint half the size of a single aircraft”.

Created in collaboration with J. Safra Group, owner of The Gherkin, the key to Tulip’s design is the sky classroom, a wonderful, sky-high environment that will also be available to children from London schools. Residents and tourists will also be able to admire the panoramic galleries connected to the sky bridges and internal glass slides, and the bravest will be able to launch themselves into what the designers call the “gondola ride”, on small vessels built along the facade of the building. The visitor experience will be enhanced with interactive materials and information on the history of London, a sky bar and restaurants. On the ground floor, instead, there will be a park with a pavilion available to visitors.

“Founded fifty years ago in 1967 by Norman Foster, Foster + Partners – a global architecture, urban planning and design practice focused on sustainability – submitted a planning application to the City of London Corporation on 13 November 2018 for The Tulip, a new public visitor attraction that reflects a desire to build public engagement within the city and enhance the public offering of The Gherkin.”

Envisaged to “deliver high quality public realm including a new roof terrace and a street level ‘little park’ providing a new landscaped space for local workers, visitors and residents, the proposed development includes the demolition of an existing building and the construction of a building with a floor area of ​​470 square metres comprising a mixed-use visitor attraction including viewing areas on levels 4-7 and a ‘Sui Generis’ educational facility on level 3, restaurant/bar on levels 8-12 together with a retail unit in the ground floor and basement.”

While a 152-page planning report attracted “a number of objections, including from Historic Royal Palaces and Historic England, and advice from the Greater London Authority on the grounds that the proposal would be detrimental to the setting and significance of the Tower of London World Heritage Site, a number of representations are in support of the project as it provides the city and London with an iconic new building.”
Having said that “the project is very well balanced”, officials were satisfied that “the development is significant in terms of local and wider impacts and, in particular, is not a substantial detriment to the World Heritage site”.

“Virtually no major development proposal is in complete compliance with all policies,” and the report set out its considerations on this; “The Tulip” “adds to and diversifies the City’s visitor offering and both directly and indirectly supports the aspirations of the City and so would help boost London’s tourism offering and economy and attract people to the City who would not otherwise be attracted to it and so benefits the wider UK economy.”

“Pleased that The Tulip promises broad cultural and economic benefits with a diverse programme of events and aims to be a visitor attraction, estimated at around 1,2 million visitors per year.”
The group explained that “its height and position will provide unparalleled views of the London skyline and the activities inside will offer guests a memorable experience.”
“The observation galleries will offer visitors an immersive experience with sky bridges, internal glass windows and gondola rides on the façade of the building that will appeal to people of all age groups.
Visitors will benefit from interactive materials and briefings from expert guides on the history of London, and to complement the experience, there will be a sky bar and restaurants with 360-degree views of the city.”

Appreciated that the project's educational facility for 40.000 London state school children each year, which would also be available for community and educational use, is a significant benefit of the proposal allowing every London school child to visit their school once.

“A classroom in the sky”, the educational facility at the top of The Tulip, aims to deliver national curriculum topics using innovative tools to bring the city’s history and dynamism to life, inspiring the creative young minds of tomorrow.”

Jacob J. Safra on the team said: “We are delighted to benefit from the exceptional talent of Foster + Partners in bringing this world-class visitor attraction to London.
The elegance and soft strength of the Tulip complements the iconic Gherkin and the role of a global city and we are proud to offer schoolchildren a state-of-the-art classroom to appreciate the history and dynamism of London.”
“I am impressed how an exceptional venue to host cultural, educational, commercial and technological events can further extend the public realm of the site along with significant economic and social benefits.”

“Continuing the pioneering design of the award-winning Gherkin, The Tulip is in the spirit of London as a progressive and forward-thinking city, offering significant benefits to Londoners and visitors as a cultural and social hub with unrivalled educational resources for future generations,” said Norman Foster, founder and executive chairman of Foster + Partners.

A new pocket park is proposed alongside a two-storey pavilion offering a publicly accessible rooftop garden. Together with the green walls, this increases the site’s green area by 8,5 times, supporting the Mayor of London’s aim to be the world’s first National Park City. Public access will also be significantly improved with the removal of more than half of the existing perimeter walls around The Gherkin.

See photos and project in the architecture gallery

All Renders/Images © DBOX for Foster + Partners
All drawings © Foster + Partners, courtesy of City of London Corporation