First look at new skyscraper that would tower over Gherkin and Cheesegrater in City of London

The first images of a massive skyscraper that is set to be nearly as tall as The Shard have been released. According to the Financial Times, the tower will be 70 storeys and 300m tall. This means it will be nearly as tall as The Shard, which is 306m high, and it will tower over the nearby Gherkin (180m) and Cheesegrater (225m) buildings. Street entrance to the new Exchequer Court buildingWilkinsonEyreWhile the exact height has not been confirmed by the scheme yet, model photos were released this week from architects Wilkinson Eyre. The architect firm was behind the recent renovation of Battersea Power Station. It also designed the Wellcome Collection and the nearby office block 8 Bishopsgate.The new photos show a glass ribbed tower with a curved roof rising up behind the famous Gherkin building. Sketch of the outside of new Exchequer Court buildingWilkinsonEyreThe building at 33 St Mary Axe will create 100,000m2 of office space, but it will also make areas available to the public including a rooftop garden and cultural spaces on the ground floor.In the Exchequer Court consultation document, it said the public will be able to use the first seven storeys of the tower. This will be “topped by a free publicly accessible landscaped garden at the seventh floors” which will have “views of the Gherkin”.The report also said the building will “be designed to respond positively to the scale and character of the surrounding skyline”. It added: “The initial architectural ideas for the building are being developed to create a lighter and more refined presence when viewed from across the City, helping the building sit comfortably alongside nearby landmarks such as the Gherkin and contribute to a coherent and evolving cluster of tall buildings.”Read MoreA planning application is set to be submitted to the local authority early next year. If plans get the green light, the tower would be finished by 2033.Public consultation runs until November 6.