8 Canada Square

8 Canada Square
Information
Location	London
Status	Complete
Constructed	1999-2002
Height
Roof	200 metres (656 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	42
Companies
Architect	Foster and Partners

8 Canada Square (also known as HSBC Group Head Office, or HSBC Tower) is a skyscraper located at Canary Wharf in London Docklands. The building serves as the international headquarters for the HSBC Group, the world's largest company by the Forbes Global 2000^[1] in 2008 and houses around 8,000 staff.

The tower was designed by Sir Norman Foster's team of architects. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. There are 42 floors in the 200 metres (656 ft) high tower, the joint second tallest in the United Kingdom with the Citigroup Centre.

Proposal

With the movement of HSBC's group headquarters from Hong Kong to London in 1993, the firm decided that having thousands of employees scattered across the City of London was not an ideal situation. Between 1995 and 1997 a number of proposals were considered, including the redevelopment of the previous Group Head Office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London, however the DS-2 plot at Canary Wharf was chosen for the location and space available.

Having designed the Group's last head office at 1 Queen's Road, Central, Hong Kong, Sir Norman Foster (now Lord Foster of Thames Bank) was appointed as architect. Arup became structural engineers for the project, and Davis Langdon & Everest (now Davis Langdon) quantity surveyors.

Construction

Construction began in January 1999, with work beginning on the installation of the 4,900 glass panels commencing in summer 2000. The work was carried out by Canary Wharf Contractors.^[2]

The HSBC tower.

8 Canada Square.

Accident

During the construction of the building on 21 May 2000, a crane collapsed killing three construction workers. The Coronor heard that the three men died instantly from the impact of the 450 ft fall.^[3]

Completion

The topping out ceremony took place on 7 March 2001, with the hoisting in of the final steel girder attended by bankers, journalists and contractors. The first HSBC employees began work in the building on 2 September 2002, with phased occupation completed by 17 February 2003, and the building's official opening, by Sir John Bond, taking place on 2 April 2003.

Surrounding buildings

Standing alongside the HSBC Tower are One Canada Square (popularly known as the Canary Wharf Tower); and the Citigroup Centre, which forms the British head office of the multinational US bank, Citigroup. It is also next door to Bank of America. The tower is not open to the public.

Financial cost

In April 2007, it became the first building in Britain to be sold for more than £1bn.^[4] The tower was sold to Spanish property company Metrovacesa.

On December 5, 2008, HSBC Holdings retake ownership of its headquarters in London's Canary Wharf from Spain's Metrovacesa SA. HSBC will post a 250 million-pound ($368 million) gain from the agreement in the second half.

On 13 November 2009, HSBC sold the building to the National Pension Service of Korea ('NPS') for £772.5 million in cash. As a result of the transaction, a gain of approximately £350 million will be recognised in HSBC's income statement on completion, expected to be before 31 December 2009.

Notable features

In line with HSBC's environmental principles energy efficient systems have been installed from the outset, along with recyclable furniture and equipment.

History Wall

A competition was held in order to select a feature for the ground floor lobby, unveiled by the then Group Chief Executive Sir Keith Whitson, the HSBC History Wall includes history, achievements and values of the Group from the 18th to 21st centuries. The wall is 6.6 metres (22 ft) tall, with 3,743 images, including documents, photographs, portraits and illustrations of staff, buildings, businesses and events.

Stephen and Stitt

8 Canada Square has a pair of bronze lions guarding the main entrance. These are copies of a pair nick-named "Stephen" and "Stitt" which have stood outside the Bank's Headquarters at 1 Queen's Road Central in Hong Kong since 1935. The Hong Kong lions are named after yet another pair of lions that guarded the Bank's Shanghai headquarters on The Bund after it opened in 1923. The original Stephen and Stitt were named for A G Stephen, the then Chief Manager and the driving force behind the Shanghai development, and G H Stitt, the Manager in Shanghai. This was an in-joke: The lions face each other, and one is portrayed as if roaring, the other sitting quietly. Messrs Stephen and Stitt were said to have personalities as diverse.

The lions were cast within sight of the development by the Bronze Age Sculpture Casting Foundry in Limehouse.^[5]

Key facts

• Office space — 102,190 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft).
• Floors — 42 above ground.
• Trading floors — housing the London treasury, capital markets and equities trading operations — are, at 4,180 square metres (45,000 sq ft), one of the largest such locations in Europe, able to house up to 570 staff per floor.
• Staff restaurant — 850 seater facility is the largest of its kind in Europe, serving around 2,500 meals daily.
• Concrete — 180,000 tons.
• Steel — 14,000 tons.
• Glass — 45,000 square metres or 484,200 square feet (44,980 m²).
• The building was sold in 2007 to Spanish real-estate firm Metrovacesa for £1.09 billion. It is the biggest ever property deal in British history.^{[citation needed]}
• HSBC had bought back the tower from Metrovacesa for £838 million in 2008, but sold it to the National Pension Service of Korea in 2009.

Transport

The nearest tube station is Canary Wharf serving the Jubilee Line, which can be reached undercover via Canada Place shopping centre, and Canary Wharf DLR station serving the Docklands Light Railway. A bus service ran to London City Airport, now replaced by the Docklands Light Railway.

See also

• Torre HSBC Mexico
• One Canada Square a neighbouring building; the tallest in the UK
• List of tallest structures in London
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 8 Canada Square

• Skyscrapernews file on HSBC
• Foster and Partners' website
• BBC News article about the enquiry into the accident
• The London Foundry that copied and cast the lions

v • d • e Skyscrapers in the United Kingdom Completed (150m+) London One Canada Square · 8 Canada Square · Citigroup Centre · BT Tower · Tower 42 · 30 St Mary Axe · Broadgate Tower · One Churchill Place · 25 Bank Street · 40 Bank Street · 10 Upper Bank Street Manchester Beetham Tower Proposed/Under construction (150m+) London Shard London Bridge · Bishopsgate Tower · Heron Tower · Riverside South · 122 Leadenhall Street · St George Wharf Tower · Croydon Gateway Arena · 20 Fenchurch Street · 100 Bishopsgate · Heron Quays West · North Quay · Wood Wharf · Beetham Tower Manchester Piccadilly Tower · 1 Hardman Square · Albany Crown Tower · Owen Street Birmingham Regal Tower · 103 Colmore Row · V Building Glasgow East One Leeds Lumiere

Coordinates: 51°30′19″N 0°01′02.6″W / 51.50528°N 0.017389°W / 51.50528; -0.017389