At 270m, building will be taller than famous Cheesegrater neighbour

Plans for a 270m tall tower to be built next door to the Cheesegrater in the City of London have been made public by Avery Associates.

The practice has been working on the deal since 2010 when it was first appointed to the job.

The original client, developer Simon Halabi, sold the site – called No 1 Undershaft – to an unnamed Far Eastern developer back in 2011.

Under the plans, the site’s existing 118m tall tower, now known as St Helen’s tower but originally called the Commercial Union building when it was built by GMW back in 1969, will be knocked down to make way for the new building.

The current building’s sister tower was knocked down in 2007 to make way for Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners’ Cheesegrater, which stands at 225m tall. Yesterday the practice confirmed it will be moving into the new building later this year.

Anthony Carlile, an associate at Avery Associates, said its plans are for office space only although the basement could be turned into retail.

But the scheme is still some way off being built as plans have not been submitted to the City of London.