Sights in London often make the visitor feel transported back in time to one of the numerous eras in the city's long history, but some sights like Broadgate Tower bring us clearly back to the present again.

Built from 2005 to 2009, the Broadgate Tower is part of a greater development scheme to provide more office space for the already congested and overbuilt financial district, the City of London or Square Mile of London as it is commonly known.

The tower was designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and developed by British Land. When you look at the innovative and revolutionary design and construction techniques that were used to build this skyscraper around the structures that were already in place, you might actually suspect you shot right past the present and were transported into the future, instead.

Broadgate Tower actually sits on a raft, a 2.3 acre air-rights site that is located over the active rail lines that head into Liverpool Street Station. The complications of building in such a location (construction had to be halted whenever a train was near the station) led to delays, but the building's steel core and other innovations have set significant precedents for future developments in London and around the world.

As one might expect, there were many artefacts discovered during construction that held up the process while they were properly excavated and documented.

The tower stands 538 feet tall, and has 35 stories. The completion of this building created an additional 37,000 square metres of office space, as well as space for cafés, restaurants and shops in its ground floor covered Galleria.

There are 23 trees planted both inside and outside the Galleria, adding a welcome bit of nature to the urban environment. The Galleria also serves as a pedestrian passageway through Broadgate, connecting the Liverpool Street Station to adjacent developments.

Sights like the Broadgate Tower are glimpses into the future of large urban areas everywhere.

Visiting Broadgate Tower

Address: Broadgate Tower, 201 Bishopsgate, City, EC2A 2EW

Photo courtesy: Beyond the Lens

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