94-661: Tower 42 , commonly known as the NatWest Tower , is a 183-metre-tall (600 ft) skyscraper in the City of London . It is the sixth-tallest tower in the City of London and the 19th- tallest in London overall. Its original name was the National Westminster Tower , having been built to house NatWest 's international headquarters. Seen from above, the shape of the tower resembles that of
188-494: A Buttressed core . Trussed tube and X-bracing: International Westminster Bank International Westminster Bank was a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Westminster Bank and its predecessors from 1913 to 1989, with branches in London , France, Spain and West Germany . At the peak of its operations during the 1980s, the bank had a multibillion-pound deposit base, principally through its London office, which administered
282-694: A steel frame that supports curtain walls . This idea was invented by Viollet le Duc in his discourses on architecture. These curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete . Modern skyscraper walls are not load-bearing , and most skyscrapers are characterized by large surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames and curtain walls. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with
376-537: A city consisting entirely of high-rise housing is the 16th-century city of Shibam in Yemen . Shibam was made up of over 500 tower houses, each one rising 5 to 11 stories high, with each floor being an apartment occupied by a single family. The city was built in this way in order to protect it from Bedouin attacks. Shibam still has the tallest mudbrick buildings in the world, with many of them over 30 m (98 ft) high. An early modern example of high-rise housing
470-412: A cost of £75 million. (Demolition was considered, but would have been too difficult and expensive.) The external re-clad was carried out by Alternative Access Logistics with the use of a multi-deck space frame system to access three floors at once with the ability to move up and down the whole building. On 17 January 1996, during the repairs and possibly from the welding being undertaken, a fire started at
564-733: A more classical approach came back to global skyscraper design, that remains popular today. Examples are the Wells Fargo Center , NBC Tower , Parkview Square , 30 Park Place , the Messeturm , the iconic Petronas Towers and Jin Mao Tower . Other contemporary styles and movements in skyscraper design include organic , sustainable , neo-futurist , structuralist , high-tech , deconstructivist , blob , digital , streamline , novelty , critical regionalist , vernacular , Neo Art Deco and neohistorist , also known as revivalist . 3 September
658-399: A particularly small surface area of what are conventionally thought of as walls. Because the walls are not load-bearing most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by the concept of steel frame and curtain wall. However, skyscrapers can also have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls and have a small surface area of windows. The concept of a skyscraper is
752-420: A product of the industrialized age , made possible by cheap fossil fuel derived energy and industrially refined raw materials such as steel and concrete . The construction of skyscrapers was enabled by steel frame construction that surpassed brick and mortar construction starting at the end of the 19th century and finally surpassing it in the 20th century together with reinforced concrete construction as
846-454: A proto-skyscraper, or to New York's seven-floor Equitable Life Building , built in 1870. Steel skeleton construction has allowed for today's supertall skyscrapers now being built worldwide. The nomination of one structure versus another being the first skyscraper, and why, depends on what factors are stressed. The structural definition of the word skyscraper was refined later by architectural historians, based on engineering developments of
940-412: A proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a high-rise as any vertical construction for which wind is a more significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, such as towers . Different organizations from
1034-439: A reference to its 42 cantilevered floors. It is now a general-purpose office building. In June 2012, a Capix LED multi-media lighting system was installed around levels 39 to 45. This replaced the previous high-energy floodlighting at the top of the building. The lighting system forms thousands of pixels mounted on a chain netting that is affixed to the surface of the building. Each pixel is formed of three RGB LED units , allowing
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#17328511446401128-475: A single "leaf"; and the next two (3 and 4) are formed of two leaves. This pattern is repeated at the top, so that only levels 5 to 38 extend around the whole of the building. The limitations of the design were immediately apparent - even though the building opened six years before Big Bang , and so there was less of a requirement for large trading floors, the bank decided not to locate its foreign exchange and money market trading operation ("World Money Centre") in
1222-556: A skyscraper today, it was record setting. The building of tall buildings in the 1880s gave the skyscraper its first architectural movement, broadly termed the Chicago School , which developed what has been called the Commercial Style. The architect, Major William Le Baron Jenney , created a load-bearing structural frame. In this building, a steel frame supported the entire weight of the walls, instead of load-bearing walls carrying
1316-417: A small surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a tubular structure , and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic, and other lateral loads. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks , which in some cases is also structurally required. As of September 2023 , fifteen cities in
1410-514: A time, the tallest of which is the 97.2 m (319 ft) high Asinelli Tower. A Florentine law of 1251 decreed that all urban buildings be immediately reduced to less than 26 m. Even medium-sized towns of the era are known to have proliferations of towers, such as the 72 towers that ranged up to 51 m height in San Gimignano . The medieval Egyptian city of Fustat housed many high-rise residential buildings, which Al-Muqaddasi in
1504-599: A variety of lighting designs and colours to be displayed. The system was designed by SVM Associates and Zumtobel . The display featured the Olympic Rings during the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Agitos during the London 2012 Paralympic Games . The National Westminster Tower was the tallest building in London and the United Kingdom for 10 years. At its completion in 1980, it claimed this title from
1598-466: A variety of shapes, and it could be riveted, ensuring strong connections. The simplicity of a steel frame eliminated the inefficient part of a shear wall, the central portion, and consolidated support members in a much stronger fashion by allowing both horizontal and vertical supports throughout. Among steel's drawbacks is that as more material must be supported as height increases, the distance between supporting members must decrease, which in turn increases
1692-469: A vertical tube-like structural system capable of resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation". Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube. Horizontal loads (primarily wind) are supported by the structure as a whole. Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space, and about half the exterior surface is available for windows. Where larger openings like garage doors are required,
1786-408: Is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least 100 meters (330 ft) or 150 meters (490 ft) in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise buildings . Skyscrapers may host offices, hotels, residential spaces, and retail spaces. One common feature of skyscrapers is having
1880-406: Is important in most building design, but particularly for skyscrapers since even a small chance of catastrophic failure is unacceptable given the tremendous damage such failure would cause. This presents a paradox to civil engineers : the only way to assure a lack of failure is to test for all modes of failure, in both the laboratory and the real world. But the only way to know of all modes of failure
1974-433: Is largely from the force of the building material itself. In most building designs, the weight of the structure is much larger than the weight of the material that it will support beyond its own weight. In technical terms, the dead load , the load of the structure, is larger than the live load , the weight of things in the structure (people, furniture, vehicles, etc.). As such, the amount of structural material required within
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#17328511446402068-399: Is the global commemorative day for skyscrapers, called "Skyscraper Day". New York City developers competed among themselves, with successively taller buildings claiming the title of "world's tallest" in the 1920s and early 1930s, culminating with the completion of the 318.9 m (1,046 ft) Chrysler Building in 1930 and the 443.2 m (1,454 ft) Empire State Building in 1931,
2162-419: Is to learn from previous failures. Thus, no engineer can be absolutely sure that a given structure will resist all loadings that could cause failure; instead, one can only have large enough margins of safety such that a failure is acceptably unlikely. When buildings do fail, engineers question whether the failure was due to some lack of foresight or due to some unknowable factor. The load a skyscraper experiences
2256-731: The State Bank of New South Wales (acquired by the Commonwealth Bank in 2000) for an undisclosed amount in 1993. Lombard Bank (Malta) was established in 1969 and divested in stages to the Maltese government from 1975 to 1988. Lombard North Central had been active in Malta since 1955, accepting deposits through agents. Banco NatWest España was formed in 1990 by acquisition of the controlling interest in Banco NatWest March. The Spanish operation
2350-544: The air rights granted to it and the neighbouring site whilst respecting the banking hall on that adjacent site, as only one building was allowed to be developed. For a time it was the tallest cantilever in the world. Following NatWest's refurbishment of the tower, the bank renamed it the International Finance Centre, in 1997. The building was subsequently acquired by Hermes Real Estate and BlackRock 's UK property fund in 1998 for £ 226 million. In 2010 they put
2444-629: The " Seven Sisters ", were built between 1947 and 1953; and one, the Main building of Moscow State University , was the tallest building in Europe for nearly four decades (1953–1990). Other skyscrapers in the style of Socialist Classicism were erected in East Germany ( Frankfurter Tor ), Poland ( PKiN ), Ukraine ( Hotel Moscow ), Latvia ( Academy of Sciences ), and other Eastern Bloc countries. Western European countries also began to permit taller skyscrapers during
2538-460: The 10th century described as resembling minarets . Nasir Khusraw in the early 11th century described some of them rising up to 14 stories, with roof gardens on the top floor complete with ox-drawn water wheels for irrigating them. Cairo in the 16th century had high-rise apartment buildings where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants . An early example of
2632-618: The 177-metre (581 ft) 189-metre (620 ft) with antenna Post Office Tower , a transmission tower located in Fitzrovia . By 2022, Tower 42 was the sixth-tallest tower in the City of London , and the 18th-tallest in London overall. An annual charity fundraising event called Vertical Rush takes place inside Tower 42. It is a vertical run of 932 steps to the top of the tower. The 2024 event, raising money for Shelter , took place on 28 February. [REDACTED] Media related to Tower 42 at Wikimedia Commons Skyscraper A skyscraper
2726-465: The 1880s that had enabled construction of tall multi-story buildings. This definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry , which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicago's Monadnock Building . What is the chief characteristic of the tall office building? It is lofty. It must be tall. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and pride of exaltation must be in it. It must be every inch
2820-580: The 1960s now use a tube design derived from Khan's structural engineering principles, examples including the construction of the World Trade Center , Aon Center , Petronas Towers , Jin Mao Building , and most other supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s. The strong influence of tube structure design is also evident in the construction of the current tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa , which uses
2914-587: The 1960s, according to the CTBUH, the skyscraper has been reoriented away from a symbol for North American corporate power to instead communicate a city or nation's place in the world. Skyscraper construction entered a three-decades-long era of stagnation in 1930 due to the Great Depression and then World War II . Shortly after the war ended, Russia began construction on a series of skyscrapers in Moscow . Seven, dubbed
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3008-807: The 26th century BC. It was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 160 m (520 ft) Lincoln Cathedral having exceeded it in 1311–1549, before its central spire collapsed. The latter in turn was not surpassed until the 555-foot (169 m) Washington Monument in 1884. However, being uninhabited, none of these structures actually comply with the modern definition of a skyscraper. High-rise apartments flourished in classical antiquity . Ancient Roman insulae in imperial cities reached 10 and more stories. Beginning with Augustus (r. 30 BC-14 AD), several emperors attempted to establish limits of 20–25 m for multi-stories buildings, but were met with only limited success. Lower floors were typically occupied by shops or wealthy families, with
3102-666: The 57 m (187 ft) tall 1924 Marx House in Düsseldorf , the 65 m (213 ft) tall Borsigturm in Berlin , built in 1924, the 65 m (213 ft) tall Hansahochhaus in Cologne , Germany, built in 1925; the 61 m (200 ft) Kungstornen (Kings' Towers) in Stockholm , Sweden, which were built 1924–25; the 77 m (253 ft) Ullsteinhaus in Berlin, Germany, built in 1927;
3196-596: The 89 m (292 ft) Edificio Telefónica in Madrid , Spain, built in 1929; the 87.5 m (287 ft) Boerentoren in Antwerp, Belgium, built in 1932; the 66 m (217 ft) Prudential Building in Warsaw , Poland, built in 1934; and the 108 m (354 ft) Torre Piacentini in Genoa , Italy, built in 1940. After an early competition between New York City and Chicago for
3290-559: The CTBUH, is the distance between the highest floor and its architectural top (excluding antennae, flagpole or other functional extensions). Vanity height first appeared in New York City skyscrapers as early as the 1920s and 1930s but supertall buildings have relied on such uninhabitable extensions for on average 30% of their height, raising potential definitional and sustainability issues. The current era of skyscrapers focuses on sustainability , its built and natural environments, including
3384-471: The NatWest logo (three chevrons in a hexagonal arrangement). The tower, designed by Richard Seifert and engineered by Pell Frischmann , is located at 25 Old Broad Street in the ward of Cornhill . It was built by John Mowlem & Co between 1971 and 1980, first occupied in 1980, and formally opened on 11 June 1981 by Queen Elizabeth II . At 183 metres (600 ft) high, it was the tallest building in
3478-419: The United Kingdom until superseded by One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in 1990. It was the tallest building built in London in the 1980s and remained the tallest in the City of London until overtaken by the 230-metre (750 ft) Heron Tower in 2010. The building today is multi-tenanted and comprises Grade A office space and restaurant facilities, with restaurants on the 24th and 42nd floors. In 2011, it
3572-463: The United States and Europe define skyscrapers as buildings at least 150 m (490 ft) in height or taller, with " supertall " skyscrapers for buildings higher than 300 m (984 ft) and " megatall " skyscrapers for those taller than 600 m (1,969 ft). The tallest structure in ancient times was the 146 m (479 ft) Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt , built in
3666-497: The amount of material that must be supported. This becomes inefficient and uneconomic for buildings above 40 stories tall as usable floor spaces are reduced for supporting column and due to more usage of steel. A new structural system of framed tubes was developed by Fazlur Rahman Khan in 1963. The framed tube structure is defined as "a three dimensional space structure composed of three, four, or possibly more frames, braced frames, or shear walls, joined at or near their edges to form
3760-434: The amount of office space available. In total, there are 47 levels above ground, of which 42 are cantilevered. The lowest cantilevered floor is designated Level 1, but is in fact the fourth level above ground. The cantilevered floors are designed as three segments, or leaves, which approximately correspond to the three chevrons of the NatWest logo when viewed in plan. The two lowest cantilevered levels (1 and 2) are formed of
3854-468: 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 cantilever is constructed to take advantage of
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3948-424: The classical designs of the early skyscrapers , instead embracing the uniform international style ; many older skyscrapers were redesigned to suit contemporary tastes or even demolished—such as New York's Singer Building , once the world's tallest skyscraper. German -American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became one of the world's most renowned architects in the second half of the 20th century. He conceived
4042-471: The commercial loan and deposit book on behalf of National Westminster Bank's International Division. As such, it engaged in wholesale fixed-term deposits with other banks, corporates and some individual private customers; it accepted short term and medium deposits (up to 12 months) against issuance of its own dollar and sterling-denominated certificates of deposit (CDs); and it administered commercial loans to corporate clients and sovereign governments. The bank
4136-595: The creation of a significant number of early skyscrapers, though none of these were steel reinforced and few remain today. Height limits and fire restrictions were later introduced. In the late 1800s, London builders found building heights limited due to issues with existing buildings. High-rise development in London is restricted at certain sites if it would obstruct protected views of St Paul's Cathedral and other historic buildings. This policy, 'St Paul's Heights', has officially been in operation since 1927. Concerns about aesthetics and fire safety had likewise hampered
4230-511: The design and partly because of the proposed demolition of the 19th-century bank building at 15 Bishopsgate, which dated from 1865 and was designed by architect John Gibson . Seifert, who had developed a reputation for overcoming planning objections, organised an exhibition in which he presented two alternative visions: his preferred design, and a second design featuring a 500-foot (150 m) tower with an "absurdly squat" second tower alongside. Visitors were invited to vote and overwhelmingly chose
4324-632: The development of skyscrapers across continental Europe for the first half of the 20th century. By 1940, there were around 100 high-rise buildings in Europe ( List of early skyscrapers ). Some examples of these are the 43 m (141 ft) tall 1898 Witte Huis (White House) in Rotterdam ; the 51.5 m (169 ft) tall PAST Building (1906–1908) in Warsaw ; the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool, completed in 1911 and 90 m (300 ft) high;
4418-402: The early 1960s Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan , considered the "father of tubular designs " for high-rises, discovered that the dominating rigid steel frame structure was not the only system apt for tall buildings, marking a new era of skyscraper construction in terms of multiple structural systems . His central innovation in skyscraper design and construction
4512-416: The environment and loaded structures with decorative elements and extravagant finishes. This approach to design was opposed by Fazlur Khan and he considered the designs to be whimsical rather than rational. Moreover, he considered the work to be a waste of precious natural resources. Khan's work promoted structures integrated with architecture and the least use of material resulting in the smallest impact on
4606-454: The environment. The next era of skyscrapers will focus on the environment including performance of structures, types of material, construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials/natural resources, embodied energy within the structures, and more importantly, a holistically integrated building systems approach. Modern building practices regarding supertall structures have led to the study of "vanity height". Vanity height, according to
4700-523: The first building in the world to feature a metal-framed glass curtain wall , a design element which creates light, airy interiors and has since been used the world over as a defining feature of skyscrapers". Further developments led to what many individuals and organizations consider the world's first skyscraper, the ten-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built in 1884–1885. While its original height of 42.1 m (138 ft) does not even qualify as
4794-471: The glass façade skyscraper and, along with Norwegian Fred Severud , designed the Seagram Building in 1958, a skyscraper that is often regarded as the pinnacle of modernist high-rise architecture. Skyscraper construction surged throughout the 1960s. The impetus behind the upswing was a series of transformative innovations which made it possible for people to live and work in "cities in the sky". In
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#17328511446404888-409: The ground/mezzanine levels and the sky lobbies at levels 23 and 24. Double-decked lifts 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
4982-465: The hundred-story John Hancock Center and the massive 442 m (1,450 ft) Willis Tower . Other pioneers of this field include Hal Iyengar , William LeMessurier , and Minoru Yamasaki , the architect of the World Trade Center . Many buildings designed in the 70s lacked a particular style and recalled ornamentation from earlier buildings designed before the 50s. These design plans ignored
5076-454: The lower levels of a skyscraper will be much larger than the material required within higher levels. This is not always visually apparent. The Empire State Building 's setbacks are actually a result of the building code at the time ( 1916 Zoning Resolution ), and were not structurally required. On the other hand, John Hancock Center 's shape is uniquely the result of how it supports loads. Vertical supports can come in several types, among which
5170-492: The mid-1980s. In 1980, National Westminster Bank acquired Global Bank AG; two years later, in 1982, International Westminster Bank's Frankfurt branch was merged with Global Bank, to form Deutsche Westminster Bank AG. In 1988, International Westminster Bank's branches in France and Monaco were incorporated into National Westminster Bank S.A. After 80 years, NatWest announced its exit from French retail banking in 1993. Eventually,
5264-674: The most common for skyscrapers can be categorized as steel frames, concrete cores, tube within tube design, and shear walls. The wind loading on a skyscraper is also considerable. In fact, the lateral wind load imposed on supertall structures is generally the governing factor in the structural design. Wind pressure increases with height, so for very tall buildings, the loads associated with wind are larger than dead or live loads. Other vertical and horizontal loading factors come from varied, unpredictable sources, such as earthquakes. By 1895, steel had replaced cast iron as skyscrapers' structural material. Its malleability allowed it to be formed into
5358-435: The most complex encountered given the balances required between economics , engineering , and construction management. One common feature of skyscrapers is a steel framework from which curtain walls are suspended, rather than load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Most skyscrapers have a steel frame that enables them to be built taller than typical load-bearing walls of reinforced concrete. Skyscrapers usually have
5452-433: The only remaining branch was the London office. Due to changes in international bank taxation arrangements, the bank's ongoing existence no longer offered any commercial advantage. In 1989, International Westminster Bank was merged into National Westminster Bank by a Private Act of Parliament . The bank opened the following branch offices between its formation in 1913 and its closure in 1989: International Westminster Bank
5546-406: The performance of structures, types of materials, construction practices, absolute minimal use of materials and natural resources, energy within the structure, and a holistically integrated building systems approach. LEED is a current green building standard. Architecturally, with the movements of Postmodernism , New Urbanism and New Classical Architecture , that established since the 1980s,
5640-719: The price of steel decreased and labor costs increased. The steel frames become inefficient and uneconomic for supertall buildings as usable floor space is reduced for progressively larger supporting columns. Since about 1960, tubular designs have been used for high rises. This reduces the usage of material (more efficient in economic terms – Willis Tower uses a third less steel than the Empire State Building) yet allows greater height. It allows fewer interior columns, and so creates more usable floor space. It further enables buildings to take on various shapes. Elevators are characteristic to skyscrapers. In 1852 Elisha Otis introduced
5734-421: The property on the market at an expected price of £ 300 million. This would potentially have been the largest single commercial property sale in the City of London in 2010. In July 2010 it was reported that Chinese Estates Group had entered exclusive discussions to buy Tower 42. but this deal did not conclude and it was sold in 2011 to South African businessman Nathan Kirsh for £282.5 million. Upon completion,
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#17328511446405828-552: The remaining branches was exercised from London, although between 1940 and 1944 contact with them was lost due to the German occupation. Westminster Foreign Bank was granted a limited deposit licence in 1961, enabling it to start trading in the Eurodollar market. Its London deposit dealing desk was merged with National Westminster Bank's foreign exchange dealing desk in 1979, to form a combined trading operation named World Money Centre. This
5922-474: The safety elevator at the E. V. Haughwout Building in New York City, allowing convenient and safe transport to buildings' upper floors. Otis later introduced the first commercial passenger elevators to the Equitable Life Building in 1870, considered by some architectural historians to be the first skyscraper. Another crucial development was the use of a steel frame instead of stone or brick, otherwise
6016-643: The safety elevator, allowing convenient and safe passenger movement to upper floors. Another crucial development was the use of a steel frame instead of stone or brick, otherwise the walls on the lower floors on a tall building would be too thick to be practical. Today major manufacturers of elevators include Otis , ThyssenKrupp , Schindler , and KONE . Advances in construction techniques have allowed skyscrapers to narrow in width, while increasing in height. Some of these new techniques include mass dampers to reduce vibrations and swaying, and gaps to allow air to pass through, reducing wind shear. Good structural design
6110-447: The single tower design. The final design preserved the Gibson banking hall and the tower's height was reduced to 183 metres (600 ft). Demolition of the site commenced in 1970 and the tower was completed in 1980. The building was constructed by John Mowlem & Co around a huge concrete core from which the floors are cantilevered , giving it great strength but significantly limiting
6204-465: The subsidiaries were amalgamated into NatWest Bank, N.A. The Bancorp business was sold to Fleet Financial Group in 1996. National Westminster Bank of Canada was formed in 1982, providing domestic and international banking services through its branches in Montreal , Toronto , Calgary and Vancouver . The Canadian operation was sold to HSBC Bank Canada in 1998. National Westminster (Hong Kong) Limited
6298-438: The title for six years. The design and construction of skyscrapers involves creating safe, habitable spaces in very tall buildings. The buildings must support their weight, resist wind and earthquakes, and protect occupants from fire. Yet they must also be conveniently accessible, even on the upper floors, and provide utilities and a comfortable climate for the occupants. The problems posed in skyscraper design are considered among
6392-526: The top of the building. Five hundred workmen were evacuated and smoke was seen coming out of the top of the building. A helicopter using thermal imaging equipment pinpointed the source of the fire, which was on the 45th floor in a glass-fibre cooling tower. After refurbishment, NatWest decided not to re-occupy and renamed the building the International Financial Centre , then sold it in 1998 to UK property company Greycoat, who renamed it Tower 42,
6486-411: The tower was occupied by a large part of NatWest's International Division. The upper floors were occupied by the division's executive management, marketing, and regional offices, moving from various locations in the City of London. The lower floors were occupied by NatWest's Overseas Branch, moving from its previous location at 52/53 Threadneedle Street. The adjacent annexe building at 27 Old Broad Street
6580-538: The tower; the unit remained in its existing location at 53 Threadneedle Street . Other international banking units, such as International Westminster Bank 's London Branch and the Nostro Reconciliations Department remained at their locations (at 41 Threadneedle Street and Park House, Finsbury Square , respectively) due to lack of space in the tower. Innovative features in the design included double-decked lifts, which provide an express service between
6674-687: The tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders used to maintain structural integrity. Tube structures cut down costs, at the same time allowing buildings to reach greater heights. Concrete tube-frame construction was first used in the DeWitt-Chestnut Apartment Building , completed in Chicago in 1963, and soon after in the John Hancock Center and World Trade Center . The tubular systems are fundamental to tall building design. Most buildings over 40 stories constructed since
6768-474: The tube structure was the Chestnut De-Witt apartment building, considered to be a major development in modern architecture. These new designs opened an economic door for contractors, engineers, architects, and investors, providing vast amounts of real estate space on minimal plots of land. Over the next fifteen years, many towers were built by Fazlur Rahman Khan and the " Second Chicago School ", including
6862-472: The upper rented to the lower classes. Surviving Oxyrhynchus Papyri indicate that seven-stories buildings existed in provincial towns such as in 3rd century AD Hermopolis in Roman Egypt . The skylines of many important medieval cities had large numbers of high-rise urban towers, built by the wealthy for defense and status. The residential Towers of 12th century Bologna numbered between 80 and 100 at
6956-460: The walls on the lower floors on a tall building would be too thick to be practical. An early development in this area was Oriel Chambers in Liverpool , England, built in 1864. It was only five floors high. The Royal Academy of Arts states, "critics at the time were horrified by its 'large agglomerations of protruding plate glass bubbles'. In fact, it was a precursor to Modernist architecture, being
7050-604: The weight of the building. This development led to the "Chicago skeleton" form of construction. In addition to the steel frame, the Home Insurance Building also utilized fireproofing, elevators, and electrical wiring, key elements in most skyscrapers today. Burnham and Root 's 45 m (148 ft) Rand McNally Building in Chicago, 1889, was the first all-steel framed skyscraper, while Louis Sullivan 's 41 m (135 ft) Wainwright Building in St. Louis, Missouri, 1891,
7144-814: The world have more than 100 skyscrapers that are 150 m (492 ft) or taller: Hong Kong with 552 skyscrapers; Shenzhen , China with 373 skyscrapers; New York City , US with 314 skyscrapers; Dubai , UAE with 252 skyscrapers; Guangzhou , China with 188 skyscrapers; Shanghai , China with 183 skyscrapers; Tokyo , Japan with 168 skyscrapers; Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia with 156 skyscrapers; Wuhan , China with 149 skyscrapers; Chongqing , China, with 144 skyscrapers; Chicago , US, with 137 skyscrapers; Chengdu , China with 117 skyscrapers; Jakarta , Indonesia , with 112 skyscrapers; Bangkok , Thailand , with 111 skyscrapers, and Mumbai , India with 102. As of 2024, there are over 7 thousand skyscrapers over 150 m (492 ft) in height worldwide. The term "skyscraper"
7238-648: The world's tallest building for forty years. The first completed 417 m (1,368 ft) tall World Trade Center tower became the world's tallest building in 1972. However, it was overtaken by the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower ) in Chicago within two years. The 442 m (1,450 ft) tall Sears Tower stood as the world's tallest building for 24 years, from 1974 until 1998, until it was edged out by 452 m (1,483 ft) Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which held
7332-432: The world's tallest building, New York took the lead by 1895 with the completion of the 103 m (338 ft) tall American Surety Building , leaving New York with the title of the world's tallest building for many years. Modern skyscrapers are built with steel or reinforced concrete frameworks and curtain walls of glass or polished stone . They use mechanical equipment such as water pumps and elevators . Since
7426-470: The world, although only partially iron framed, is The Flaxmill in Shrewsbury , England. Built in 1797, it is seen as the "grandfather of skyscrapers", since its fireproof combination of cast iron columns and cast iron beams developed into the modern steel frame that made modern skyscrapers possible. In 2013 funding was confirmed to convert the derelict building into offices. In 1857, Elisha Otis introduced
7520-650: The years immediately following World War II. Early examples include Edificio España (Spain) and Torre Breda (Italy). From the 1930s onward, skyscrapers began to appear in various cities in East and Southeast Asia as well as in Latin America . Finally, they also began to be constructed in cities in Africa , the Middle East , South Asia , and Oceania from the late 1950s. Skyscraper projects after World War II typically rejected
7614-584: Was acquired by National Westminster Bank in 1975; NatWest International Trust merged with Handelsbank NatWest to form the Coutts Group in 1990. In 1973, National Westminster Bank acquired a minority interest in the Dutch firm F. van Lanschot , Bankiers. From 1990, until it sold its interest in 1994, it was the majority shareholder. From 1973, until it was divested to Credito Emiliano in 1995, Banca Creditwest e dei Comuni Vesuviani (formerly Banca Milanese di Credito)
7708-530: Was an integral part of NatWest Group's international banking division, which also comprised a number of overseas subsidiary and associated undertakings. National Westminster Bank USA was formed in 1983 from the 1978 acquisition of the National Bank of North America. Following the 1988 acquisition of First Jersey National Bank, National Westminster Bancorp was formed as a US holding company for National Westminster Bank USA and National Westminster Bank NJ. In 1995,
7802-539: Was bought by the South African businessman Nathan Kirsh . The National Westminster Tower's status as the first skyscraper in the city was a coup for NatWest , but was extremely controversial at the time, as it was a major departure from the previous restrictions on tall buildings in London. The original concept dates back to the early 1960s, predating the formation of the National Westminster Bank. The site
7896-515: Was damaged in the April 1993 Bishopsgate bombing , a Provisional Irish Republican Army truck bombing in the Bishopsgate area of the City of London. The bomb killed one person and extensively damaged the tower and many other buildings in the vicinity, causing a total of over £1 billion worth of damage to the area. The tower suffered severe damage and had to be entirely reclad and internally refurbished at
7990-611: Was first applied to buildings of steel-framed construction of at least 10 stories in the late 19th century, a result of public amazement at the tall buildings being built in major American cities like New York City , Philadelphia , Boston , Chicago , Detroit , and St. Louis . The first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building , originally 10 stories with a height of 42 m or 138 ft, in Chicago in 1885; two additional stories were added. Some point to Philadelphia's 10-story Jayne Building (1849–50) as
8084-626: Was formed as London County and Westminster Bank (Paris) Limited in 1913. It was renamed London County Westminster and Parr's Foreign Bank Limited in 1920 and shortened to Westminster Foreign Bank Limited in 1923, before assuming its final identity as International Westminster Bank Limited in 1973, following the merger of Westminster Bank and National Provincial Bank . All the Spanish branches were closed in 1923-4 due to deteriorating economic conditions in Spain and discrimination against foreign banks. Control of
8178-704: Was formed in 1974, providing short and medium term loans in Hong Kong dollars and foreign currencies, foreign exchange and deposit taking facilities. The bank's reputation and long-standing involvement in meeting the financial needs of Australian enterprises were factors which led to NatWest Australia Bank obtaining a trading bank licence in 1986. The retail banking assets and liabilities in South Australia and Western Australia were sold to Challenge Bank (acquired by Westpac in 1995) and in Sydney , Melbourne and Brisbane to
8272-424: Was in 17th-century Edinburgh , Scotland, where a defensive city wall defined the boundaries of the city. Due to the restricted land area available for development, the houses increased in height instead. Buildings of 11 stories were common, and there are records of buildings as high as 14 stories. Many of the stone-built structures can still be seen today in the old town of Edinburgh. The oldest iron framed building in
8366-541: Was located at 52-53 Threadneedle Street. The London branch of International Westminster Bank, at 41 Threadneedle Street, continued to handle the back office settlements for the World Money Centre. In 1982, much of the London branch was relocated to NatWest's Drapers Gardens tower in nearby Throgmorton Avenue. The branch moved to its final location at the Kings Cross House tower block, 200 Pentonville Road , in
8460-534: Was occupied by NatWest's Overseas Branch cashiers and foreign notes and coin dealing operation. In 1993, NatWest had planned a major premises relocation that would have seen the International Banking Division move from the tower and be replaced with its Domestic Banking Division, enabling the bank to terminate its lease of the Drapers Gardens tower. These plans had to be abandoned after the tower
8554-719: Was sold to Banco Sabadell in 1996. RoyWest Banking Corporation in Nassau, Bahamas was formed in 1965, to undertake mortgage and international investment banking in the British West Indies . Jointly owned by National Westminster Bank, the Royal Bank of Canada , the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation and Montreal Trust Company , it became NatWest International Trust when the bank increased its shareholding in 1987. Handelsbank in Zürich
8648-454: Was the concept of the "tube" structural system , including the "framed tube", "trussed tube", and "bundled tube". His "tube concept", using all the exterior wall perimeter structure of a building to simulate a thin-walled tube, revolutionized tall building design. These systems allow greater economic efficiency, and also allow skyscrapers to take on various shapes, no longer needing to be rectangular and box-shaped. The first building to employ
8742-596: Was the first steel-framed building with soaring vertical bands to emphasize the height of the building and is therefore considered to be the first early skyscraper. In 1889, the Mole Antonelliana in Italy was 197 m (549 ft) tall. Most early skyscrapers emerged in the land-strapped areas of New York City and Chicago toward the end of the 19th century. A land boom in Melbourne , Australia between 1888 and 1891 spurred
8836-547: Was then the headquarters of the National Provincial Bank , with offices in Old Broad Street backing onto its flagship branch at 15 Bishopsgate . Early designs envisaged a tower of 137 metres (449 ft); this developed into a design with a 197-metre (646 ft) tower as its centrepiece, proposed in 1964 by architect Richard Seifert . The plan attracted opposition, partly because of the unprecedented height of
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