New skyscraper will have London’s first ‘climbing window’

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Spaces, a digital publication exploring new ways to live and work.

CNN  — 

Details of new London workplace concept Twentytwo have been revealed – and it’s wooing thrill-seeking entrepreneurs with the city’s first ever “climbing window.” Adventurous employees will be able to spend their lunch break climbing glass walls inside the 62-story skyscraper, 125 meters (410 feet) above the ground.

The climbing window is the centerpiece of fitness facilities at the heart of office building at 22 Bishopsgate, which is being developed by AXA IM Real Assets and Lipton Rogers Developments with a ‘wellness’ bent.

“We recognize the role of the office has changed, with workplaces now needing to do so much more than simply accommodate people,” says Sir Stuart Lipton, partner at Lipton Rogers Developments.

“They are becoming hubs for bringing colleagues together – ‘high-tech coffee shops’ where people meet, share, collaborate and develop ideas, strategies and solutions.”

Twentytwo, office interior

Lipton adds: “Twentytwo will be a truly ‘social’ workplace with different spaces for people to socialize, focus and energize. It represents how we will all be working in the future.”

Designed by PLP Architecture, 22 Bishopsgate will contain workspace for 12,000 people, as well as a fresh food market, innovation hub, gym, wellbeing retreat and spa, business club and cycle hub, and London’s highest free public viewing gallery.

Down on the ground, workers will also be able to enjoy an ‘art walk’ in the building’s triple-height lobby.

Twentytwo is scheduled for completion in 2019.

Twentytwo – which clocks up 1.275 million square foot of office space for a mix of small and large businesses, as well as startups – will be among the tallest buildings in the capital’s financial district when it is developed, on land previously earmarked for Pinnacle Tower.

Don’t dust off your climbing shoes just yet though – it’s not scheduled for completion until summer 2019.

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