Detail view showing the tower and its neighbouring buildings-© 2014 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP;RRP Modelshop/ Photographer Eamonn O'Mahony

To celebrate its completion, The Leadenhall Building was opened for the 2014 Open House, giving a rare chance for the public to visit the building before it becomes fully operational and attracting over 7,500 people over the weekend.

South facade view of the building in contex- © 2014 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP;RRP Modelshop/ Photographer Eamonn O'Mahony

The building, which has been under construction since early 2011, comprises 610,000 sq ft of office space over 47 floors, in a distinctive tapered glass-clad tower and the adjacent north core which houses 22 lifts, 45 lobbies and 82 washrooms along with a diverse range of building services plant. Using advanced technologies and streamlined production processes 85% of the structure (by construction value) has been manufactured off-site resulting in a high standard of construction as well as benefiting the build programme.

Detail of North facade view of the building in context-© 2014 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP;RRP Modelshop/ Photographer Eamonn O'Mahony

Having achieved project completion for shell and core in July 2014, the building is now at the beginning of a nine-month fit out programme led by developers British Land and Oxford Properties for its anchor tenants Aon and Amlin. The first tenants will move in late 2014.

The unrestricted public realm at the base of the tower will be equivalent to seven storeys tall-© 2014 Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners LLP

The completion of the public space, including the opening of the north-south pedestrian route and landscape integration into the adjacent St Helen’s Square, is scheduled for 2015 and will fulfil the building’s urban function by creating a 20,000 square foot park-like area and open up access routes in one of the most active and densely developed parts of the capital. In the interim, half an acre of public space at the foot of the tower is open to the public. An exhibition on the making of The Leadenhall Building is currently on display in the public space and there will be pop up retail outlets in operation during the coming months.

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