Back in 2007, I was writing about tall buildings - British residential skyscrapers, specifically - for Construction Manager magazine. My focus was the newly completed Beetham Tower in Manchester: a hotel and private flats stacked over 49 floors, designed by Ian Simpson (now SimpsonHaugh), delivered by Carillion, and bankrolled by the Beetham Organisation. “There really is nothing quite like it anywhere else in Britain - yet,” I wrote at the time of the 169 metres high tower.

Seventeen years on, it’s safe to say the “yet” has properly arrived. According to the NLA’s annual report, London alone now has hundreds of tall buildings either completed or in the pipeline. Skyscrapers in the British capital (and increasingly Manchester) are no longer rare beasts. Encouraged by successive mayors to meet housing targets, the vertical lifestyle is now seen as not just viable, but desirable. Plots are tight, land is expensive, and after two decades of high-rise development, we’ve built up the know-how. Now, just last month in fact, Pollard Thomas Edwards has entered the fray too: our first ‘official’ skyscraper (that’s 20-plus storeys) just got planning in Stratford.

But let’s not pretend we’ve always been comfortable with height. In truth, our national attitude to tall buildings has been tentative - suspicious even. There’s a whiff of foreignness to them. French? American? By global standards, Britain’s tall buildings aren’t very tall, and politically, we’re a bit more squeamish too. Glasgow built more high-rise housing than any UK city after the war - and then demolished most of it in recent years. And speaking for ourselves, before the 2010s, the tallest project we’d worked on was the Anchor Brewhouse near Tower Bridge - a nine-storey Victorian warehouse.

That’s why, two years ago, we published What is the future of high-rise housing? - a book probing the long-term social and financial impacts of residential towers. It wasn’t a manifesto, more a check-in with ourselves and the like-minded professionals we regularly work with given the homes we were designing were growing taller year on year. Time to ask: what do we actually think about all this?

Broadly, we believe in density - but not necessarily height. We’ve always favoured mid-rise development that achieves high density while preserving a human scale and a sense of community. Still, we’re not anti-skyscraper. There are places where tall buildings make sense: by major transport hubs, say, or near big public parks. But we insist on good design and long-term stewardship. Amenity, maintenance, management - these things matter. Height alone won’t make a place liveable.

And some design features simply don’t work in the clouds. Take balconies. Mandatory under London’s mayoral guidance, they’re often unusable at height. High winds, noise, exposure - it’s not exactly cocktail hour out there. We think it’s time to reconsider, and in many cases, we’d prefer to put that space into better internal living areas. Winter gardens would be a far more practical solution at upper levels.

We also question whether families belong above the 10th floor. While some two-beds at high level may suit certain households - including some defined as family under affordable housing rules - the design has to work hard to support quality of life. It’s not just about floorplans; it’s about how people live, day to day.

So yes, PTE backs a more nuanced approach to high-rise housing - one that weighs context, quality of life and long-term success over sheer height or marketable views. Build tall if it makes sense. But don’t forget who’s living there, and for how long.

As for that article I wrote back in 2007? It may now read like an artefact from a gentler time - when skyscrapers were exotic and unexpected. But perhaps it still contains a lesson that architects don’t always follow but should: it states the secret of a successful tall building lies in creating a vibrant environment at street level. As we’ve shown with our scheme for Stratford, where the ground floor features a new café and performance venue for hosting national jazz concerts and exhibitions - we couldn’t agree more.