Investor Axa Real Estate and developer Stuart Lipton have struck a deal to take over the Pinnacle skyscraper site in the City of London.

The pair, together with Asian investors, are reported to have bought the 22-24 Bishopsgate site for £220m and now plan to build a simplified tower design that will be the tallest in the city.

WSP has been signed up as the structural and building services consultant with architect PLP working on the design.

The firm was also structural engineer behind the Shard and New York’s Freedom Tower.

Contractor Brookfield Multiplex was forced to abandon construction of the Pinnacle tower in early 2012 after the core reached seven storeys when funding dried up.

The complex helter-skelter design, with customised curved curtain walling, will be dumped in favour of a streamlined, more cost-effective tower.

This will involve demolishing the existing concrete core, which led to the site being nicknamed The Stump, to clear the way for a fresh start.

Early working designs purporting to be for the new 60-storey tower have been released on the Skyscraper City internet forum, where they have been criticised for lacking the striking architectural presence of the previous Pinnacle scheme.

Previous Pinnacle design

Fresh tower design for 22 Bishopsgate site

Plans will be submitted to the City Corporation planning authorities later this year with the aim of completing the new tower by 2018. The backers hope to start construction before the end of 2015.

Plans to build a 28-floor sloping office tower on one of the last remaining sites on the Canary Wharf estate have got the final thumbs up.

The London borough of Tower Hamlets’ planning committee has granted consent for the 146m high building, which will be located at One Bank Street at Heron Quays West.

The distinctive building has been designed by KPF, with a view to signing up two major tenants.

Outline plans were approved by Tower Hamlets back in April for the site. The detailed plan contains an atrium giving the office design a wider skirt on the lower floors and roof terrace.

Adamson Associates, acting as executive architect, is leading a full consultant team, which includes Arup as structural engineer and Hilson Moran the mechanical engineer.

French bank Société Générale has signed a 25-year lease for the building’s eight bottom floors, which cover a total of 280,000 sq ft.

The Heron Quays West site was previously earmarked for a three building scheme, with the highest tower being 33 storeys.

This has been revised to two major buildings of a lower height.

A similar height office block is planned for the adjacent 10 Bank Street, on Heron Quays West. Enabling works have begun after it received full approval

Construction is set to start on the £2bn New Covent Garden Market site in central London this spring.

Transformation of the 57-acre site situated next to Vauxhall Cross in the Nine Elms regeneration zone is being led by joint venture development partners Vinci and St Modwen.

St Modwen gave an update on the scheme in its latest results released today.

The London Borough of Wandsworth resolved to grant planning permission for the scheme last year.

St Modwen said: “We are targeting to achieve unconditional status in the first half of 2015, with preparatory works starting on site shortly afterwards.”

St Modwen starts its financial year from November meaning a start date around May.

The multi-phase scheme will take 10 years to build and includes development of 550,000 sq ft of modern facilities to house the 200 businesses that make up the UK’s largest fruit, vegetable and flower market.

Construction work will be funded from the release of 20 acres of surplus land for a residential led mixed-use regeneration scheme.

Much of this will be built on a separate site joined by a 1km linear park. In total more than 3,000 new homes and 135,000 sq ft of new office space and 100,000 sq ft of retail and leisure will be built.

Vinci Construction UK has been earmarked to construct the new market, with other firms likely to be brought on board to build the later housing projects.

Plans for a 53-storey residential-led tower at Meridian Gate on the Isle of Dogs have been given the green light.

Joint developers Meridian Property Holdings and LBS Properties commissioned architect Make to design the latest tower plan, which will consist of over 400 one, two and three-bed apartments.

The tower, approved by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, will be built beside West India Docks and is one of several sites that form the Marsh Wall East masterplan area.

The apartments benefit from the combination of balconies, winter gardens and terraces, providing private external space and views of the capital.

Frank Filskow, Make partner and lead project architect, said: “Meridian Gate will be an exciting new addition to the Isle of Dogs and responds to the Councils aspirations within the developing South Quay Masterplan.

“The slender design maximises the opportunity to provide a significant new park for residents and the local community.”