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A Shape Its Own Architect Always Denied
Locksmith Tower 42: The Skyscraper That Broke The City's Rules
A bank's headquarters became the City's first true skyscraper, survived a bombing and a fire during repairs, then reinvented itself with a champagne bar at the top. Call 020 8534 4949 for a locksmith who knows this corner of the City.
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Covering the area around Tower 42 on Old Broad Street. Open in Google Maps
Why This Area Is Different
A headquarters that redrew the City's skyline
So, Tower 42 began life as the National Westminster Tower. Richard Seifert designed it as a dedicated headquarters for NatWest's international division. Construction took roughly nine years, an unusually long run for a building of its size. Work finally finished in 1980, and the Queen officially opened it the following year. On completion, it became the tallest building in the United Kingdom and the City of London's first genuine skyscraper. That was a major and controversial break from the height restrictions that had shaped the area for decades.
Seen from above, the tower's footprint looks a lot like NatWest's own three-chevron logo. Even so, many people assumed that was deliberate branding. Seifert himself always denied it was intentional, so the question stays genuinely unresolved. What's beyond dispute is the building's engineering ambition. It has 47 floors in total. Of these, 42 are cantilevered off a central concrete core. Double-decker lifts run express to dedicated sky lobbies partway up the building. A basement telephone exchange was even decorated with panoramic photos of the London skyline. That hid the fact it sat underground at all.
Damage, Repair, And A New Name
Even so, the tower didn't escape the City's more difficult moments unscathed. Like several buildings nearby, it suffered serious damage from a 1993 bombing. That meant extensive re-cladding, carried out floor by floor. During the repair work itself, a fire broke out on one of the upper storeys, adding to an already lengthy restoration. NatWest briefly rebranded the refurbished building as the International Financial Centre. The bank never actually returned to occupy it, though, and eventually sold the freehold entirely.
Eventually, new owners renamed the building Tower 42 in 1998. The name was a direct nod to its cantilevered floor count. The old viewing gallery at the very top, once used simply to look out over London, now operates as a champagne bar. A building designed to project corporate authority has ended up, by a fairly roundabout route, as somewhere people go for champagne and a view. We're considerably less concerned with views. We just want the doors throughout this area to keep working properly.
Need something sorted now? Lockout help for a shut door, a repair booking for one that's just tired, our night line at any hour.
What Businesses & Residents Near Tower 42 Call About
What this corner of the City brings us
High-Rise Office Tenants
Even so, modern towers in this area bring their own access layers and daily volume. Security here gets matched to that pace, not treated generically.
Book aheadOlder Buildings In A Tower's Shadow
Even so, several smaller, older buildings sit close to the tower itself, each with its own character. A considered repair respects that rather than treating every door the same.
Book aheadShops & Cafés Serving Office Workers
Even so, daytime trade here depends heavily on the surrounding offices staying busy. A fast lock replacement keeps a jammed unit from losing that custom.
Same-day priorityFlats Near The Commercial Core
Even so, a small number of residential entrances sit among the offices in this area. Each one gets its own assessment, not grouped in with the commercial units.
Book aheadBroken Or Snapped Keys
Older locks in this area can grip a snapped key stubbornly. Our broken keys page explains how we free one carefully.
Call nowEvening Lockouts
Once the office crowd clears out, this area quietens fast. We still turn out, whatever the hour.
Call nowFor the record: duplicate keys and card or intercom setup both fall to other specialists, not us. Both go to the managing agent's own contacts instead.
Locked Out Near Tower 42
Trading hours' pace, then a quiet evening
Even so, heavy office traffic marks this area through the working day, a direct reflection of its financial heritage.
Evening brings a sharp contrast, with the surrounding streets emptying out fast.
Neither pattern changes our method. Soft techniques get a full run before a drill is ever brought out.
What's actually happened to your key shapes our next move. See broken keys for a snapped one, lost keys for one that's simply gone.
Around Tower 42
Streets and postcodes nearby
The road Tower 42 actually stands on.
East of here.
The full EC2 overview, all six postcodes.
Bank and Poultry, west of here.
North of this area.
North-east, towards the station.
What We Do
Services around Tower 42
An Unresolved Question, Decades On
What a building's own architect never quite admitted
Few buildings carry a design mystery their own creator refused to settle. Was the shape ever truly an accident? That question stays exactly as open as Seifert left it.
The tower's own official history is set out by its heritage timeline, with a more detailed architectural account covered by this history of the building.
We're less interested in design mysteries. What matters more is what's actually fitted to a door. A lock gets judged on its own condition. It doesn't matter what the building around it is arguing about.
Uncertain what your own lock needs? Walk us through what it's doing and we'll be upfront about what we think.
The Process
Booking a locksmith callout near Tower 42
- Describe the problemYour address, the unit, and roughly what's wrong.
- Entry gets settledAny building clearance needed happens before we travel.
- A genuine inspectionPricing follows a real look at the door, never a guess.
- Confirmed workingBoth lock and door tested, nothing assumed.
Access & Traffic
Getting to you around Tower 42
This area carries heavy office traffic through most of the working day, reflecting its long financial heritage. Loading restrictions apply throughout.
Bank and Liverpool Street stations both sit within easy reach, giving a fast route in on foot when surface roads are congested.
Weekday office hours bring the busiest conditions, with evenings and weekends considerably quieter. We plan each visit around whichever pattern applies.
Why People Call Us
What this area's tenants and residents rely on us for
- We check what's fitted, not the backstory. Even so, a building's history doesn't change what's needed on the door today.
- We don't skip to force. Gentler methods get a proper try before a drill does.
- Comfortable with high-rise access. Even so, towers with their own security layers are routine for us.
- Homes matter here too. A residential job gets exactly what a commercial one does.
- Scope stated plainly. Spare keys and access-system programming aren't work we take on.
- Reachable at any hour. Busy trading hours or a quiet evening, it's the same to us.
Nearby
Areas around Tower 42
Common Questions
A Shape Its Own Architect Denied
Was this tower genuinely controversial when it was built?
Yes, as the City's first true skyscraper, it broke decisively with earlier height restrictions.
Is the logo-shaped design story actually true?
It's disputed. The building's own architect consistently denied the resemblance was deliberate.
How long did construction actually take?
Around nine years, considerably longer than a typical tower of its size.
A Fire, A Rebrand, And A Bar At The Top
Did this building suffer damage from the nearby 1993 bombing?
Yes, along with other buildings nearby, it was badly affected and needed extensive re-cladding.
Did anything go wrong during that repair work itself?
Yes, a fire broke out on one of the upper floors while the re-cladding was still underway.
What happened to the old viewing gallery eventually?
It became a champagne bar, a considerably different use than its original purpose.
Booking Near Tower 42
Which stretch does this page actually cover?
The immediate area around Tower 42, on Old Broad Street in the City.
Do you work on older buildings as well as modern towers here?
We do. This area has a genuine mix, and each building gets assessed on its own terms.
Can you reach a lockout during a busy weekday?
We can, though finishing on foot often works out faster once this area gets congested.
Is weekend cover realistic in a mostly commercial postcode?
Yes, every day, regardless of how quiet the offices are.
Do you handle residential premises as well as offices here?
Yes, though commercial work accounts for most of what we're called out for in this area.
What if my building has its own security procedures?
Let us know what they involve beforehand and we'll plan the visit around them.
A tower built to impress still does. We'd just like your lock to be reliably unimpressive instead.
Office, shop or flat near Tower 42 — get in touch, and we'll send the right engineer.