SOM-designed Diamond tower gets approved for London

The 56-storey London skyscraper designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill will feature public viewing galleries at its topmost levels.Called The Diamond, the 248.2-metre-high tapered tower will be constructed at 100 Leadenhall Street, in the city's financial district. The tower will stand next to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners‘ similar-shaped 224-metre-high Leadenhall Building – nicknamed The Cheesegrater. New visuals released by investors London and Oriental show a wedge-shaped glass tower with a faceted exterior that forms a pattern of elongated diamond shapes. Publicly accessible viewing galleries will span the building's top two floors. The 55th floor will have 360-degree views over London, while the 56th level will be a triple-height space giving views to the south and of Renzo Piano's Shard. Over 900,000 square metres of office space will occupy the rest of the skyscraper's floors, along with shops and public spaces at the building's base.