With the 93rd Academy Awards showing off the best that cinema has to offer we thought we would take a moment to reflect on our own history on screen and while The Leadenhall Building does not quite have the same history just yet (it’s our 6th birthday this year) the building’s career on screen did begin before the building was even completed.

In June 2013 the building topped out, meaning the structures had reached its highest point and was now visible on the London skyline – although still only a skeleton of steel and concrete.

The event was marked with a topping out ceremony attended by then Mayor of London Boris Johnson, and broadcast live on the BBC London news. The production crew loved the views so much they stayed to broadcast the weather from the top of the building later that night.
The design and construction of the building, which leans back to protect views of St Paul’s cathedral, fascinated television and film companies. Numerous documentaries have been filmed on at the building, including National Geographic’s Europe from Above and Channel Five’s Superskyscrapers, broadcast around the world.

Once completed, the building was frequently sought out as a location for television and film productions, providing a unique office location and views across the Capital. In 2014 the building was selected as one of the core locations for The Apprentice, with two floors reimagined as Lord Sugar’s office and the candidates summoned to the top-of-the building, in Europe’s fastest scenic lifts, for their final interviews.
The building welcomed a very different cast of characters in 2019, when we hosted the production of the Pokémon film, Detective Pikachu, which was filmed at the building and the surrounding area – with Leadenhall Street closed off for Pokémon parade! 2018 also saw the building used prominently in the production of Hobbs and Shaw, part of the Fast and Furious franchise, for a thrilling freefall sequence down the front of the building. Slightly closer to reality, The Cheesegrater was also Richard Gere’s place of work in the BBC production Mother Father Son.

We look forward to hosting more action heroes, documentary crews, budding apprentices and creatures great and small in the future. So make sure to keep an eye out for the building on both the small and silver screen, it’s not easy to miss.