South Tower

Southbank Tower, which you are approaching on the South Bank, was originally known as the Kings Reach Tower when it was completed in the early nineteen seventies. It was designed by the architect Richard Seifert, who was also responsible for several other prominent mid-century landmarks in London. For decades, the building served as the headquarters for one of the largest publishing companies in Europe, IPC Media. During the late nineteen seventies, the tower earned a strange place in British cultural history through its association with the science fiction comic book two thousand AD. The publication was headquartered in the building, and in its pages, the tower was depicted as a disguised alien spaceship and the nerve center for the comic’s extraterrestrial editor, Tharg. This fictional transformation turned a standard concrete office block into an iconic, if unofficial, monument for fans of British comics.