London's skyline then and now: Amazing photographs show the changing face of the capital

1/17
Alexandra Richards10 February 2018

Incredible photos of London show how the city’s iconic skyline has changed over the years as new skyscrapers emerge in the busy metropolis.

Ben Veasey, a freelance photographer from Canary Wharf, has been documenting the city’s development since the 1990s.

His recent work has captured the construction of iconic landmarks such as the Shard and the Walkie Talkie.

Speaking to the Standard he said that the skyline has “changed massively” in the past 15 years.

The Walkie Talkie under construction
Ben Veasey

“Transport hubs are where most towers are built” he observed, noting huge development in areas like Vauxhall and Canary Wharf.

He said that during his time photographing the city he had also seen huge developments in east London.

He said: “It’s definitely the East End that has changed the most including Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs. Stratford is like a different place to how it was 10 years ago before the Olympic Park was built."

Canary Wharf at night
Ben Veasey

Last month developers, the Madison Square Garden Company, announced that it is proposing a concert venue to rival the O2 Arena on and next to the Olympic Park.

The huge 650ft high venue nicknamed the “Golf Ball” would seat 18,000 people with standing room for a further 5,000.

According to preliminary designs the proposed building would dwarf other landmarks in the city such as West Ham stadium which was used to house huge events during the London 2012 games.

Olympic Park Crystal Ball - In pictures

1/9

Elsewhere in the city the iconic Battersea Power Station is under renovation after being sold for £1.6 billion in January to Malaysian government backed investors.

The former generator will be transformed into a complex featuring luxury apartments, offices and shops — including Apple’s new London HQ.

A spokesman for the Battersea Power Station Development Company said: “This announcement is a tremendous show of faith and means that this iconic London landmark will be maintained for future generations to enjoy long after its restoration is complete.”

As more and more structures are being built in the capital there is increasing concern over the number of tall buildings being added to the skyline.

More than 320 new structures will be built across London in the next 10 years including three new clusters of skyscrapers south of the Thames, transforming river views from Parliament, Victoria Embankment and the Southbank.

2026 View from City Hall
GMJ and City of London Corporation

All of the buildings have already been approved or are under construction across 75 square miles.

In the City of London alone 13 new high rises are expected to be built in the next 10 years, these include 22 Bishopsgate and the Scalpel which are already under construction.

Chris Hayward, Planning Committee Chairman at the City of London Corporation said: “It is unprecedented to see such a scale of development taking place at one time in the Square Mile. There are now more cranes in the City sky than in recent decades.

“Over the next thirty years I expect that we will need to deliver office space for up to 100,000 extra City workers. Therefore iconic buildings such as TwentyTwo will lead the way in ensuring the City remains competitive as a leading financial centre.”

Gwyn Richards, Head of Design and Assistant Director of Built Environment at the City of London Corporation said that the new buildings would be more accessible than the high rises the square mile has seen in the past decade.

Viewing galleries will allow people to go up the new builds and enjoy the views.

He said: “We want the new-builds to be more accessible as it makes people feel like they have a stake in the new developments and are part of the city”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT