Architecture Update: A Wapping development

MICHAEL HOPKINS, architect of the new Glyndebourne opera house (see main feature, left), has been commissioned by News International, publisher of the Sun and the Times, to design a 60,000 m2 office complex next to its premises in Wapping, east London. This is the second attempt by the company to develop surplus land on the site. The first scheme, three years ago, foundered because of a proposal by different architects to build a 25- storey tower which the Corporation of London said would block views of the nearby Tower of London. This time the tower is only 15 storeys high, attended by three six-storey office blocks. News International is being coy about its latest venture and has denied rumours that this will be the new home of BSkyB.