52-54 Lime Street

The Scalpel
Artist's impression
General information
Status	Under construction
Location	London, EC3 United Kingdom
Construction started	2015
Estimated completion	2017
Cost	£500m
Height
Roof	190 m (623 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	38 (+ 2 basement floors)
Floor area	Offices: 37,564 square metres (404,300 sq ft) Restaurant: 883 square metres (9,500 sq ft) Retail: 98 square metres (1,100 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators	11 TWiN lifts, 2 goods lifts, 2 cycle lifts, 1 firefighting lift and 4 escalators.
Design and construction
Architect	Kohn Pedersen Fox
Developer	WRBC Development UK Limited
Structural engineer	Arup
Main contractor	Skanska

The Scalpel is a commercial skyscraper under construction in London, United Kingdom. It is located on Lime Street in the City of London financial area. Originally a nickname but subsequently designated as its official name, the term "Scalpel" was coined by the Financial Times due to the building's distinctive angular design and followed a trend of nicknaming new buildings based upon their shape, such as the nearby Leadenhall Building, also known as "The Cheesegrater". Upon completion in 2017, The Scalpel will be 190 m (620 ft) tall, with 38 storeys. It has been designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.

The site is on the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall Street, opposite the Lloyd's building and adjacent to the Willis Building. The skyscraper is being built for insurance company W. R. Berkley and will be the firm's new European headquarters, occupying approximately one-quarter of the total office space. A small proportion of the commercial space will be occupied by a retail shop at street-level, a basement restaurant at the Leadenhall Street frontage, and by a café at the Lime Street entrance. Office space has also been pre-leased to BPL (level 12) and Axis (levels 2-3).

WRBC Services Ltd applied to the City of London Corporation for planning permission in September 2012 to demolish Prudential House (52–54 Lime Street and 21–26 Leadenhall Street), Allianz Cornhill House (27-27A Leadenhall Street), and Winterthur House (34–36 Leadenhall Street and 4–5 Billiter Street) and to construct a new building of 38 storeys comprising office and retail uses.

On 15 January 2013 the City of London Planning and Transportation Committee recommended that planning permission be granted for the application. On 11 June 2013 the Common Council of the City of London permitted the development to go ahead subject to certain conditions being met.

The construction of the new tower first required the demolition of three existing buildings on the 0.33 ha (0.82 acres) site. The building at 38 Leadenhall Street (on the corner of Billiter Street) will remain despite being within the block that the new tower will dominate.