One Canada Square

One Canada Square [ wʌn kænədə ˌ skweə ] is the second tallest building in London with a height of 236 meters and 50 storeys. Until the completion of the Shard skyscraper was the tallest habitable building in the United Kingdom ( the TV tower Emley Moor, the tallest freestanding structure in the UK, at Huddersfield is 330 meters high).

The completed in 1991 skyscraper was named to Canada because he had been built by the Canadian company Olympia and York. The architect was César Pelli. Shortly after completion, the company went bankrupt. The name of the building is at the same address, the building is, however, also known as Canary Wharf Tower, as it is part of the Canary Wharf office complex in the Docklands.

There is no observation deck and the upper floors of the building are generally not accessible for tourists, but there are in the basement of a shopping center. The building is flanked by two other skyscrapers that have emerged ten years later, and both are 200 meters high: HSBC Tower (8 Canada Square ) and Citigroup Centre ( 25 Canada Square ).

Reception

• In the novel operation Elite by Matthew Reilly, the building is the venue for an action scene in which the upper floors are almost completely destroyed.
• In the British television series Doctor Who is the One Canada Square Tower of the headquarters of the "Torchwood Institute "; it was destroyed in a battle against the Daleks and Cybermen.
• In the British comedy Johnny English, the building is seen twice. One houses a hospital and a second right next to it ( as a twin tower ) the office of Pascal Sauvage.