AmTrust Plans 70-Storey, 300m Tower Beside the Gherkin

US insurer AmTrust has unveiled plans for a 70-storey, roughly 300-metre tower at 33 St Mary Axe, directly beside the Gherkin in the City of London. The proposed Exchequer Court redevelopment would deliver more than 1.08m sq ft of Grade A offices (the top office quality rating), placing it close in height to the 1 Undershaft scheme, where the One London tower is planned.

AmTrust paid £105m for the existing block in 2017 and holds a long leasehold interest in the site. WilkinsonEyre is drawing up the design, with Upper Brook acting as development manager. WSP is multidisciplinary engineer, Bidwells planning consultant, SLA landscape architect and Futurecity is shaping the cultural offer. The reported 70-storey height has yet to be confirmed in the consultation material.

Who is steering the project?

Sir George Iacobescu, the former Canary Wharf boss, is steering the scheme. The appointment puts him back at the centre of a major London tower push after 36 years helping transform Canary Wharf's former docks into a global financial district. He stepped down as Canary Wharf Group chairman in July 2024.

AmTrust chief people and communications officer Chaya Cooperberg said: "This is a long-term commitment to London we are making."

What does the scheme include?

First consultation boards reveal large office floors, a seventh-floor public garden and new cultural spaces. Office floors would span around 21,000–23,000 sq ft, targeting major occupiers seeking modern space in the Square Mile.

The developer says the scheme could provide around 8–10% of the additional commercial workspace sought under the City's emerging plan to 2040.

Planned public and environmental features include:

• Around 37,600 sq ft of additional publicly accessible space across the ground and lower floors, including cultural, exhibition and events space
• A free double-height urban garden on level seven offering views towards the Gherkin
• New pedestrian routes improving connections through the site
• Retention of parts of the existing basement to cut embodied carbon, alongside efficient plant, renewable energy and new planting

How does the design handle its heritage setting?

The design team faces a sensitive site beside Grade I-listed St Helen's Bishopsgate Church, within the St Helen's Place Conservation Area. The tower's shape and orientation are being developed to respect views of the church. The building would be pulled back at street level to create a new public courtyard.

The site carries its own history. Much of the current building dates from the 1970s and underwent extensive renovation after damage from the 1992 Baltic Exchange bombing.

What happens next?

Public consultation runs until 6 November. Fuller designs are expected this winter ahead of a planned planning application in early 2027. AmTrust hopes to complete the redevelopment by 2033, subject to approval — a timeline that would add one of the Square Mile's tallest buildings to a cluster already reshaping the City's skyline.