Gherkin’s architect in bid to revamp Pinnacle

The architect responsible for the Gherkin will submit plans to revive the floundering Pinnacle building, it emerged yesterday.

Ken Shuttleworth, the former partner of Lord Foster, is the latest in a long line of developers bidding to take over the stalled City skyscraper. It was designed to be the tallest in Europe, towering some 100 metres above the Gherkin, but the Saudi-financed mega-structure ran into trouble following the recession.

It has remained only partially built and since construction stopped some 14 months ago won the nickname “the Stump”.

It is thought that Saudi firm Sedco pumped £500m into the project before failing to secure further backing. All other competing development plans, including Shuttleworth’s, are understood to be less expensive, more modest, and to incorporate more classical designs than the current proposal.

Shuttleworth proposes removing the Stump, and using the existing foundations to build a more flexible structure, kitted out with homes, hanging gardens and offices. He will now pitch the proposal to Saudi investors, he told The Guardian.