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8 Canada Square

Coordinates: 51°30′19″N 0°01′02.6″W / 51.50528°N 0.017389°W / 51.50528; -0.017389
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8 Canada Square
Map
General information
LocationCanary Wharf
London, E14
United Kingdom
Construction started1999
Completed2002; 22 years ago (2002)
Height200 m (656 ft)
Technical details
Floor count45
Floor area164,410 m2 (1,769,700 sq ft)[1]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Foster and Partners

8 Canada Square (commonly referred to as the HSBC Tower, or the “Tower of Doom” by some HSBC employees)[2] is a 45 floor skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. The building is the global headquarters of the HSBC Holdings.[3]

Design and construction

Having been commissioned by the owners of the Canary Wharf Site to do the outline design prior to gaining site-wide outline planning permission, and because he had designed HSBC's last head office at 1 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, Sir Norman Foster (now Lord Foster of Thames Bank) was appointed as architect.[4]

Construction began in January 1999, with work beginning on the installation of the 4,900 glass panels commencing in the summer of 2000. The work was carried out by Canary Wharf Contractors.[5]

8 Canada Square in 2004, two years after completion.

The topping out ceremony took place on 7 March 2001, with the hoisting in of the final steel girder attended by bankers, journalists and contractors. The first HSBC employees began work in the building on 2 September 2002, with phased occupation completed by 17 February 2003, and the building's official opening, by Sir John Bond, taking place on 2 April 2003.[6]

Floors

Floor information sourced from The Arup Journal [1]

L44 - Roof/Plant

L43 - Plant

L42 - Executive Floors

L41 - Executive Floors

L40 - Executive Floors (Board Rooms facing East and West)

L39 - Office Floor

L38 - Office Floor

L37 - Office Floor

L36 - Office Floor

L35 - Office Floor

L34 - Transfer Floor

L33 - Office Floor

L32 - Office Floor

L31 - Office Floor

L30 - Office Floor

L29 - Office Floor

L28 - Office Floor

L27 - Office Floor

L26 - Office Floor

L25 - Transfer Floor

L24 - Office Floor

L23 - Office Floor

L22 - Office Floor

L21 - Office Floor

L20 - Office Floor

L19 - Office Floor

L18 - Office Floor

L17 - Office Floor

L16 - Office Floor

L15 - Transfer Floor

L14 - Office Floor

L13 - Office Floor

L12 - Office Floor

L11 - Office Floor

L10 - Office Floor

L9 - Office Floor

L8 - IT

L7 - Plant/IT

L6 - Client Dining

L5 - Gym/Trading Floor

L4 - Trading Floor

L3 - Trading Floor

L2 - Trading Floor

L1 - Restaurant

G - Lobby

B1 - Canada Place Mall/HSBC UK Branch

B2 - Parking

B3 - Parking

B4 - Parking

Ownership

In April 2007, HSBC Tower was sold to Spanish property company Metrovacesa, becoming the first building in Britain to be sold for more than £1bn.[7] As part of the sale, HSBC retained occupancy control and agreed a 20-year lease at a cost of £43.5m per annum.[8]

In December 2008, after Metrovacesa encountered problems with re-financing the bridging loan that HSBC had provided it and as part of a wider debt restructure for Metrovacesa, the bank bought back the property. HSBC stated it had made a £250m profit on the deal.[9]

In November 2009, HSBC once again sold the building, this time to the National Pension Service ("NPS"), the public pension fund for South Korea. HSBC's income statement on completion declared a gain of approximately £350million resulting from the transaction.[10]

In December 2014, Qatar Investment Authority completed the purchase of this building at an undisclosed price, but the building was expected to fetch more than £1.1 billion (US$1.73 billion).[11] NPS was advised by the estate agents Jones Lang LaSalle and GM Real Estate.[12][13]

Occupancy issues

In September 2022, a leaked internal memo stated that HSBC was considering whether to renew its lease on the building when it expires in 2027, or whether it would relocate to other premises in London.[14]

In February 2023, The Times reported that roughly 10 floors had been mothballed, having embraced home-working.[15]

In June 2023, the bank subsequently confirmed its intention to move out of the building by 2027 in favour of a property in the City of London.[16][17]

Crane Accident

On the 21st May 2000, three workmen employed by Hewden Tower Cranes were killed in a crane accident when the top of the crane snapped off.[18]

An inquest three years later had heard a special safety plug was missing and there was no anemometer in the crane cab to measure wind speed, although there were no weather problems that day.

The three workmen were Michael Whittard who was 36 from Leeds, Martin Burgess who was 31 from Castleford, West Yorkshire, and Peter Clark who was 33, from Southwark in South London.[19]

A memorial plaque under a tree opposite 8 Canada Square is in memory of these three men who lost their lives that day.[2]

Falling Glass

In the summer of 2003, one year after the completion of the tower, the first recorded incident of a glass panel was recorded when it had fallen from the 42nd floor of the tower. This incident was during the morning, and no one was reported injured as a result.[20]

On June 9th 2004, yet another window panel fell from the plant floors of the tower on the 43rd floor. This incident had mirrored an almost identical incident a year prior, this time with a reported near miss by a security guard.

Another incident was reported seven years later in 2011, when part of the HSBC signage had fallen off and smashed to the ground. The glass had fallen over 150 metres onto the building's western entrance. The North Colonnade area of Canary Wharf was subsequently closed off while inspection took place. There were no reports of any injuries.[21]

In 2017, reports of another window falling were posted on social media, however this was unconfirmed and speculated to be an insulated panel, as opposed to glass.[22]

Extinction Rebellion

On the morning of 22nd April 2021 - coinciding with Earth Day, the environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion vandalised the lobby windows of the tower using chisels and hammers attempting to smash the glass, protesting against the banks fossil fuel financing.

Those involved were subsequently arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. Damages amounted to £500,000 caused by the groups actions.

Similar actions of vandalism were carried out by the group at Barclays Head Office also in Canary Wharf at One Churchill Place earlier that month.[23]

Renovations

Scaffolding used for the removal and installation of signage.

In 2013, the tower had underwent minor renovation work relating to the installation of new signage, replacing both the embedded lettering and hexagon within the glass panels.

This work was carried out by contractors tara signs, which both engineered and installed the new signage.[3]

The towers signage pre 2013 renovations.

The new HSBC logo used a specially formulated LED enhancing Polycarbonate, which gives the appearance of black lettering during the day, and illuminated white during the night.

Lighting behind the tiles were also replaced from fluorescent tube lighting to LED, although rarely used.

As of 2018, the HSBC logo installed on the tower is out-of-date, displaying the previously used font and positioning of the hexagon.[4] It is assumed that the signage will not be updated due to the bank’s intention to vacate the premises in 2027.[16]

Stephen and Stitt

Main article: HSBC lions

Stephen and Stitt are found at the main entrance of 8 Canada Square. The pair were commissioned for the towers opening in 2002, soon to be the groups new headquarters.

The lions were cast within sight of the development by the Bronze Age Sculpture Casting Foundry in Limehouse.[24]

Stephen, positioned to the left of the entrance.
Stitt, positioned to the right of the entrance.

See also

References

  1. ^ "8 Canada Square". Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  2. ^ Cruise-Withers, Sinead-Iain (29 September 2022). "HSBC to review Canary Wharf tower HQ, consider new London base". Reuters. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  3. ^ Treanor, Jill (15 February 2016). "HSBC to keep its headquarters in London". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Projects – HSBC UK Headquarters – London, UK – 1997–2002". Foster + Partners. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  5. ^ Canary Wharf Contractors website
  6. ^ "HSBC Tower, London". OpenBuildings. Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  7. ^ SkyscraperNews.com (April 2007). "HSBC Tower Sold For Record Price". SkyscraperNews.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2007.
  8. ^ "HSBC sells Canary Wharf HQ". The Guardian. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  9. ^ "HSBC buys back Canary Wharf HQ". The Guardian. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Tower sold for third time in two years". Financial Times. 14 November 2009. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  11. ^ "Qatar Fund Buys HSBC's London Headquarters". The Wall Street Journal. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  12. ^ Financial Times (24 April 2014). "Sale of HSBC tower hints at return to property boom times". The Financial Times. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  13. ^ Euro Property (25 September 2014). "Middle Eastern investor to buy £1.1bn London skyscraper". Euro Property. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  14. ^ Cruise, Sinead; Withers, Iain (29 September 2022). "HSBC to review Canary Wharf tower HQ, consider new London base". Reuters. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  15. ^ https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hsbc-to-halve-space-for-head-office-sn88bxc5z. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ^ a b Withers, Iain (26 June 2023). "HSBC to ditch Canary Wharf tower in favour of central London - memo". Reuters. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  17. ^ Foster, Aurelia (26 June 2023). "HSBC to leave Canary Wharf tower for new world headquarters". BBC News. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  18. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/758202.stm#:~:text=The%20three%20workmen%20killed%20when,Whittard%2C%2039%2C%20from%20Leeds. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3269061.stm. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ https://www.glassonweb.com/news/window-falls-towers-45th-floor?amp. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ https://londonist.com/2011/07/window-pane-falls-from-top-of-canary-wharf-tower. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ^ https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/5vrtdu/one_of_the_windows_on_hsbc_canary_wharf_just_fell/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/extinction-rebellion-protests-today-hsbc-london-b1835600.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ "Bronze Age Sculpture Casting Foundry in Limehouse". Bronze Age.
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