The tapered glass-and-steel skyscraper the City nicknamed the 'Cheesegrater' — its dramatic wedge profile shaped deliberately to preserve protected sightlines to St Paul's Cathedral. The slope isn't a flourish but a planning solution made into an icon, and at ground level the building gives back a soaring public galleria open to all. It stands amid a cluster of City towers as one of the skyline's most recognizable forms. For visitors, the ground-floor space is worth stepping into, and the angled silhouette is one of the most distinctive on the London skyline, best appreciated from a little distance.
Location
City of London, London
Map
Insider Intel
The 30-metre public atrium at the base, where the exposed steel megaframe is visible overhead — used in place of a concrete core. On the flat north face, glazed shafts deliberately display the lift machinery and its bright orange counterweights, answering Rogers' own Lloyd's Building opposite.
Midday on Wednesdays, when a street-food market runs in the public space beneath.
There is no public viewing gallery and no observation deck — the ground-level public space is all you can reach, and it is free. The bar on level 42 is private hire by invitation only; you cannot buy your way up.