Cesar Pelli is to design a tower in London’s Docklands 20 years after his landmark building at Canary Wharf broke ground.

The Argentine architect, whose One Canada Square was the tallest building in Europe when it was completed in 1991, will design a tower for the neighbouring £4bn Wood Wharf scheme.

Pelli and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates are the first architects to be commissioned to design buildings for the Docklands scheme, which is being masterplanned by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in association with landscape architect Martha Schwartz.

Developer Wood Wharf, a joint venture between British Waterways, Ballymore and the Canary Wharf Group, submitted proposals for outline planning consent last week.

It is understood that the two architects will design towers for the scheme’s first phase, which is expected to be submitted for detailed planning permission in 2009. They will either be office or residential schemes, depending on market conditions at the time.

Wood Wharf is a 7ha scheme on the north-west corner of the Isle of Dogs, directly adjacent to Canary Wharf. When it is complete, it will bring office space for up to 20,000 people.