Any discussion of 22 Bishopsgate invariably moves quickly to its most obvious external feature: by City of London standards the building is massive. A wall of glass frames the view on the approach from Threadneedle Street or travelling north up Bishopsgate. From a distance, at 62 storeys the building towers above the Cheesegrater, Tower 42 and the Gherkin, which are mere booths by comparison. 

To be fair to architect PLP, it has tried to lessen the apparent bulk of the thing with two vertical steps running up the height of the building terminating in two horizontal steps at the top. The corners have been chamfered to soften it, too. The glass cliff effect will diminish because of later and adjacent developments; next door 8 Bishopsgate, which is under construction, is so close that the two buildings almost touch. In time, the top of 22 Bishopsgate will resemble the centrepiece of an overdressed dining-room table.