It is set to replace the St Helen's tower, and if built will be the second-tallest building in London and the United Kingdom at 294 metres.

The second proposal, nicknamed 'The Trellis' due to its external cross bracing, was given approval in November 2016, but this design was ultimately discarded in favour of a quad-segmented tower revealed in August 2023.

[2][5] In January 2015, early plans emerged of a replacement office building for the St Helen's tower in Undershaft within London's Square Mile.

[6] The proposal, named 1 Undershaft, was designed by Avery Associates; who began working on the scheme in collaboration with the then-owner of the site, Simon Halabi, in 2010.

[21] Developer Aroland Holdings, a British Virgin Islands entity of undisclosed ultimate ownership,[4] originally wanted 1 Undershaft to be taller than the proposed height.

In addition, the building's crown, which was intended to resemble Cleopatra's Needle, was not accepted by City planners who wanted "a less demonstrative top.

A number of investors subscribed for the bonds, yielding 10% per annum coupons and a capital guarantee at maturity, through Paul Mantoura and his Platinum Associates firm in Brazil.

However, when investors stopped receiving communications in 2020, Intel Suisse, a financial investigation specialist firm, was called in and discovered the fraud: Trade Mark International never existed.

[26] In August 2023, Eric Parry Architects revealed a substantially revised design for 1 Undershaft, prompted by changes to working habits following the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] as well as to improve the building's sustainability credentials.