Re-taking my own photos from nearly 30 years ago reveals the massive changes in London’s skyline.
Originally published on ArcGIS StoryMaps in October 2024.
I currently have 10,251 photos on my PC tagged with “London”. That’s just under 6% of my entire library. The earliest ones were taken with cheap film cameras in the 1980s and 90s when I was a child / teenager.
On a recent visit to London I recreated some of these pictures in places that show the immense changes that have taken place in London during my lifetime.
This meant trying to locate the exact spot they were taken and line up the shot to match the original as closely as possible. This was harder than it sounds (different lenses distort differently) and in some cases meant taking a poorly framed image to match the original! Use the sliders below to view the results.
Waterloo Bridge 1995/2024
What’s the same: Waterloo Bridge and the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral at the centre of the image. Tower 42 (former NatWest Tower) is conspicuous as the tallest building in the City of London (the Square Mile) in the 1995 image, though harder to spot in 2024. At the far right, the ITV London Studios tower is still standing… for now, pending a judicial review of plans for demolition and redevelopment.
What’s changed: The City of London now has an impressive skyline of skycrapers mostly built within the last 15 years. Most prominent are 22 Bishopsgate, the current tallest in the Square Mile, 8 Bishopsgate, and the Leadenhall Building (AKA the “Cheesegrater”). On the right, South Bank Tower had 11 floors added in 2013-15, and just visible behind this is another skyscraper, One Blackfriars, completed in 2018.
Blackfriars Bridge 1998/2024
What’s the same: Blackfriars Bridge, the Barbican towers on the left, the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Tower 42 again. And the familiar red double decker buses! Towards the right, two of the three sets of supports from the 1886 Blackfriars Rail Bridge (demolished 1985) are visible beneath the arch of the road bridge in the foreground…
What’s changed: The third set of supports has been incorporated into the current rail bridge, widened in 2011 to accommodate platforms for Blackfriars station extended across the river (see the jagged roofline visible just above the road bridge). 22 Bishopsgate, 8 Bishopsgate, and the Leadenhall Building appear at the right.
Interestingly, one tall building has dissapeared. The 100 metre tall 1967 Drapers’ Gardens tower was designed by the architect of Tower 42, Richard Seifert (more about him later), and is visible just above those old bridge supports in the original image. It was the tallest building to have ever been demolished in the United Kingdom when taken down in 2007 to be replaced with a shorter building.
Tower Bridge 1998/2024
What’s the same: The brutalist Guy’s Hospital tower on the left, and the brutalist Tower Hotel on the right, below which is the boxy grey HMS President Royal Naval Reserve shore establishment. The dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral is just visible in the distance, and, of course, Tower Bridge itself.
What’s changed: The Chapter London Bridge tower is nearing completion on the far left of the new photo. The Shard was completed in 2012, replacing the 1975 Southwark Towers visible in the 1998 picture, and remains the tallest building in London and the United Kingdom.
Beneath the Shard is the egg-shaped former Greater London Authority building, or City Hall. One Blackfriars is visible trhough the central section of the bridge, and the top of 20 Fenchurch Street (the “Walkie Talkie”) pops up on the far right.
View from Tower Bridge 1996/2024
What’s the same: As well as some low-rise buildings along the river, the most prominent features are Guy’s Hospital tower on the left, London Bridge just upstream, and HMS Belfast, permanently moored on the Thames as a museum ship since 1971. Above the left end of London Bridge, the tall brick chimney of Bankside Power Station (now the Tate Modern) remains, although more prominent in 1996.
What’s changed: I somehow managed to include just the right amount of sky in the 1996 picture to include the top of the Shard when overlaid, although I could only have dreamed about such a building back then. Right of centre, One Blackfriars and the additional floors on South Bank Tower are visible.
But another tall building has disappeared from the two previous views. To the left of centre in the 1996 picture above was the 94 metre tall New London Bridge House, built in 1967 and demolished in 2010 to be replaced by a shorter building. And once again, the older building had been designed by Richard Seifert!
Views from the Monument 1995/2024
North
What’s the same: Curve-topped 20 Gracechurch Street on the left had been completed in 1992, just three years before the original photo was taken. Tower 42 is just behind it. On the right is the Lloyd’s Building with it’s services on the outside and distinctive blue cranes. The black tower behind Lloyd’s is the St. Helen’s tower, a tiny corner of which is still visible in the 2024 picture.
What’s changed: The 93 metre tall Limebank House at the centre of the 1995 image was demolished in 1998 and replaced with a shorter building. It was designed by… you guessed it… Richard Seifert!
Plenty of taller buildings have appeared: 22 Bishopsgate, 8 Bishopsgate, and the brand nw One Leadenhall in the middle of the 2024 image. The well known 30 St. Mary Axe (the “Gherkin”, completed 2003) is even visible from here (it’s mostly hidden from the south and west these days). Finally the 1968 20 Fenchurch Street, cut off at the right hand side, has been replaced by the top-heavy “Walkie Talkie”, completed in 2014.
East
What’s the same: The gothic / postmodern mashup of Minster Court on the far left. The church spires of St. Dunstan-in-the-East and All Hallows by the Tower are in the centre, and Tower Bridge is at the right. The tallest building in London at the time, One Canada Square, stands lonely on the horizon at Canary Wharf, to the left of centre in the 1995 picture.
What’s changed: The redevelopment of London’s Docklands is the big story here. The derelict docks were redeveloped from the 1980s onwards. One Canada Square was completed in 1991 and remained the sole skyscraper for several years due to the recession. Construction of the next towers started in 1998 and has continued unabated ever since, as seen on the horizon in the 2024 picture.
Greenwich Park 2000/2024
What’s the same: The Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum in the centre date from the 17th century. The pyramid top of One Canada Square is still just about visible among the jumble of skyscrapers in 2024.
What’s changed: This is the newest of the original photos, yet this pair shows the most change. Two new towers under construction in the 2000 photo have been completed and joined by too many more to list. The development has spilled over from the original Canary Wharf estate into the surrounding areas.
The Future
This rapid change shows no signs of slowing down. St. Helen’s tower, seen in the view from the Monument, is due to be demolished imminently and replaced with the taller 1 Undershaft, despite being perhaps London’s best example of the “international style”.
Plans are being drawn up for the replacement of 20 Gracechurch Street, now considered too small and looking too dated (it’s ground levels have already been “modernised” in recent years).
Demand for office space at Canary Wharf has slowed and HSBC is planning to move its offices back to the City of London. There is a plan in the works to radically alter their existing tower for residential use; a building that is only 22 years old.
There are many more sites in London being redeveloped for the second time in my lifetime. The former 120 Fleet Street was only completed in 2000 and has already been demolished. There are plans in the works to redevelop Minster Court (1990) and the Greater London Authority Building (2002), both seen above.
Tower 42 is unlisted and some have suggested is obsolete and should be replaced. But would it be right to continue destroying so much of Richard Seifert’s ouevre, and a building that was the iconic tallest for so many years?
We wouldn’t destroy an artist’s paintings because their style has gone out of fashion. However, architecture is more than just art. Buildings need to be functional, fit for purpose, and make a return for their investors. But I still wish we could slow down just a little and consider what we might regret having lost 10 or 20 years from now.
