THE NEW YORK TIMES Karen McVeigh December 27, 2006

They sound more like theme park rides than symbols of progress, but towers such as the cheese-grater, the walkie-talkie and the helter-skelter are leading a renaissance in British high-rise architecture.

Cities vying for the buildings with the best superlatives – the tallest residential tower, the highest viewing platform – include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Brighton and Edinburgh.

By 2010 London’s skyline will be dominated by the London Bridge Tower, which at 310 metres (1,017ft) will take over from Canary Wharf’s 235-metre structure at No 1 Canada Square as the tallest building in Europe. But it is unlikely to be on its own for long. Work is also planned on the Bishopsgate Tower (or helter-skelter) and at least four other skyscrapers in the City and Canary Wharf next year.

The rapid surge in planning applications for skyscrapers has left some authorities unprepared.

Leeds, which will be home to the 171-metre Lumiere, has more than 20 plans in the pipeline and is drawing up a tall buildings policy.

Edinburgh, with many of its key tourist attractions in World Heritage sites, is also wrestling with threats to its famous skyline. The council, currently dealing with a planning application for a 175-metre, 18-storey development on its waterfront, is drawing up a plan to stop further encroachments.

Work on Brighton’s answer to the London Eye is due to begin next year, despite local protests. At 183 metres, the i-360 is almost twice the size of the town’s 24-storey Sussex Heights.

In what is a far cry from the bad old days of the concrete blocks of the 1960s and 70s, the new high-rises can command extravagant rents, often costlier the higher up you go.

Prices for a luxury apartment in Manchester’s 169-metre Beetham Tower range from £100,000 to £2.5m, and all were sold within 12 months of being offered. In London, a small apartment in Canary Wharf was recently bought for £5m, and the rest of the tower was snapped up in a matter of weeks.

“People could live in a mansion block in Belgravia for that money but they want to live in these buildings,” said James Newman of skyscrapernews.com. “Why commute from Surrey when you can live 10 minutes’ walk from work?”

The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, said he expected to see an average of one very tall building being constructed every year in Canary Wharf and the City to encourage major companies to base their offices there.

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