Medieval church suspended 14 metres above London skyscraper construction site
A 700-year-old church tower has been suspended above a construction site during excavation works for the upcoming 50 Fenchurch Street skyscraper in London, designed by architecture studio Eric Parry Architects.
Carried out by construction company Multiplex, over 125,000 tonnes of earth were removed from the ground around the Grade I-listed Tower of All Hallows Staining.
Four steel columns prop the stone church up 14 metres above the excavation site, which celebrated a "bottoming out" ceremony earlier this week.
Tubular structures support the surrounding walls of the dug-out site, which is located in the City of London down the road from Rafael Viñoly's 20 Fenchurch Street skyscraper – nicknamed the Walkie Talkie.
During the excavation works, the medieval church's Grade II-listed crypt was removed and disassembled. It will be reinstated during the construction of the subterranean levels of the 50 Fenchurch Street office tower.
As part of the development of the skyscraper, which is expected to be completed in 2028, the stone church tower will be made accessible to the public and form the centre piece of an outdoor space.
Designed by Eric Parry Architects with engineering firm Arup, 50 Fenchurch Street will rise 36 storeys tall and feature a green wall on its facade.
Other buildings designed by Eric Parry Architects include an office building in Singapore with staggered terraces and plans for the One Undershaft skyscraper in the City of London, which is set to be the UK's joint-tallest building.
Elsewhere in the City of London, Fletcher Priest Architects used a materials passport system to document the components of its Edenica office building and Holloway Li transformed a beaux-arts bank into a hotel.
The photography is by Amy Peacock unless stated.
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