Host of law firm buildings feature in top ten list
The London home of US law firm Kirkland & Ellis has been named the City’s most Instagrammable office building, according to new research.
Analysis by commercial estate agents Savoy Stewart found the building — officially called 30 St Mary Axe but often referred to as ‘The Gherkin’ — was mentioned in 80,945 hashtags on Instagram. Kirkland’s London base is spread across six floors of the iconic building nicknamed after the pickle for its cylindrical shape.
And it’s not just Instagram where the MoneyLaw outfit (Legal Cheek‘s 2020 Firms Most List shows Kirkland offers its London newly qualified solicitors a market-topping £150,000 dollar-pegged salary) is favoured. Sir Norman Foster’s masterpiece has been shortlisted for three consecutive years in our Trainee and Junior Lawyer Survey for ‘Most Impressive Law Firm Office’. Kirkland nabbed the award in 2017.
So how do the City’s other skyscrapers stack up in comparison? Turning back to the research and the next most Insta-worthy building is Tower 42, or the NatWest Tower, with 21,354 tags — just under 60,000 fewer than The Gherkin. Tower 42 houses a number of law firms including Taylor Vinters and the London offices of US outfits Holland & Knight and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Securing third place on the top ten list was One Canada Square in Canary Wharf with 10,455 hashtags. Employment law practice Rahman Lowe Solicitors can be found on the building’s 37th floor. Neighbouring, 25 Canada Square, or the Citigroup Tower, was named the City’s least Instagrammable skyscraper with just 450 tags. It houses advocacy specialists LPC Law and its subsidiary civil set, 25 Canada Square Chambers.
The tallest tower in the City, 22 Bishopsgate, was mentioned 2,019 times. US firm Cooley will be moving into the steel and glass construction next autumn. 100 Bishopsgate, a new skyscraper currently under construction in the City and due to be completed this year, was tagged 747 times. Magic circle firm Freshfields will be moving in once complete, as will Paul Hastings. The US shop will be taking up the tower’s top two floors.
The Heron Tower at nearby 110 Bishopsgate had 719 hashtags, according to researchers. The tower’s very first tenant was US law firm McDermott Will & Emery in 2015. Another US firm housed in the building, which has Sushi Samba and Duck & Waffle under its roof, is Proskauer Rose.
Rather surprisingly, ‘The Shard’ didn’t make a top ten appearance.
