Tower 42

Tower 42 is the third-tallest skyscraper in the City of London and the eighth tallest in Greater London. Its original name was the National Westminster Tower, having been built to house the National Westminster Bank's international division. Seen from above, the shape of the tower resembles that of the NatWest logo (three chevrons in a hexagonal arrangement). The tower, designed by Richard Seifert and engineered by Pell Frischmann, is located at 25 Old Broad Street. It was built by John Mowlem & Co between 1971 and 1980, first occupied in 1980, and formally opened on 11 June 1981 by Queen Elizabeth II. The construction cost was £72 million (approximately £311 million today). It is 183 metres (600 ft) high, which made it the tallest building in the United Kingdom until the topping out of One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in 1990. It held the status of tallest building in the City of London for 30 years, until it was surpassed by the Heron Tower in December 2009. Design In June 2012, a Capix LED multi-media lighting system was installed around levels 39 to 45. This replaced the previous high-energy floodlighting at the top of the building. The top of the tower is made to resemble the NatWest logo of three chevrons in a hexagonal arrangement. There are four sections known as the core, leaf 1, leaf 2 and leaf 3. References