The 1996 IRA bombing sparked a large regeneration project with new buildings such as Urbis forming a centrepiece of the redevelopment. Over the last few years there has been a renewed interest in building skyscrapers in Manchester with Manchester City Council signalling it would be sympathetic towards 'iconic' skyscrapers that 'reflect the historic non-comformist attitude and uniqueness of the city'. The Beetham Tower was completed in the autumn 2006 and is the tallest building in the UK outside London. City centre regeneration coincided with the property boom of the 2000s with one urbanist remarking on ""the sheer number of cranes and the noise of the building work, with the sound of pneumatic drills in my ears wherever I went"".