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'The Stump' on track to be Square Mile's tallest building

It was the construction industry's most high-profile casualty in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Pinnacle, or Helter-Skelter as it was nicknamed, was to have been one of the most striking additions to the City landscape - taking its place among a string of unusually shaped skyscrapers that include The Gherkin, The Cheesegrater and the Walkie-Talkie.

But while those three were all completed - The Gherkin actually opened in 2004, three years before the crisis - work on The Pinnacle, which had been backed by Saudi money, ground to a halt in 2012 after funding dried up.

For the next few years, with just six storeys completed and foundations extending to the equivalent of a further three storeys underground, the shell of the building was rechristened "The Stump" by wags in the City and the construction industry.

But in early 2015, a consortium of investors led by the French insurance giant Axa (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) paid £300m for the site, with the City of London Corporation agreeing planning permission later that year.

A new tower is now going up rapidly and, when it is completed next year, it will be - at 62 storeys high - the tallest building in the Square Mile.

It's got a new name, too: Twentytwo, after its address at 22 Bishopsgate. The architecture will not have quite the flourishes that the Pinnacle would have had but, according to its developers Lipton Rogers, it will boast something far more important - it will be somewhere people actually want to work.

Sir Stuart Lipton, who with his business partner Peter Rogers built the City's famous Broadgate Centre, the Chiswick Park office campus in west London and redeveloped the Royal Opera House, argues this is far more important than creating a buzz in the architectural world.

He points out that a lot of the eye-catching buildings put up in the early 2000s, while looking stunning, were often not always very practical for the people working in them.

There is also an argument that they looked rather ostentatious - an image not really in keeping with these chastened, post-crisis times in which businesses are striving harder than ever to prove that they are a force for good in society.

More important to Sir Stuart will be that the 12,000 people expected to ultimately work in Twentytwo will enjoy being there, which is why there will be ever-changing art displays in the building, lots of light and wi-fi everywhere.

The decision has also been taken to devote a tenth of the space in the building to things that will make the building pleasant to those working in it: a central "market" with an array of fresh foods and kitchens with an open terrace and bar; a gym featuring a climbing window with views across the capital; a "retreat" with yoga studios and a spa; plus a business club and lounge.

Mindful of the changing way in which people get to work, the building will also have what Sir Stuart promises will be London's biggest cycle park, with space for up to 1,700 bikes - plus cycle hire and maintenance facilities.

Sir Stuart explained: "We want Twentytwo to have a sense of civic pride and space. If people are happy in their workplace, they will be more productive."

Possibly one of the more ambitious aspects of the new building is the way in which its owners are targeting not just big businesses to become its tenants. It is also looking for tenants among SMEs, start-ups and tech companies, who will be offered preferential terms on their rent.

Sir Stuart added: "The City is a global leader in financial services and it will be in technology too."

But what about demand from tenants? Twentytwo is one of an estimated 450 tall buildings being planned for London over the next decade (the global definition of a 'tall building' is 200m (656ft) or more, the City's is 150m (490ft) and above and London Mayor Sadiq Khan's is 30m (100ft and above). There is going to be no shortage of office space. Will there be sufficient demand for it?

Sir Stuart is in no doubt: "Thirty years ago, the top rents in the City were £71 per square foot. Today, they are about £71 per square foot. The City is a very fluid place - it adapts with the times."

Some folk still decry the way the old stone facades of the Square Mile have been superceded by giant glass skyscrapers. To Sir Stuart, they exemplify how the City threw off its stuffy image after Big Bang, changing with the times to face head-on the competition several miles to the east at Canary Wharf.

It still is - and that probably means that, in time, Twentytwo will be overtaken as the Square Mile's tallest building.