Big Talker
Photographed from Eastcheap, opposite Rood Lane, with the massive building at 20 Fenchurch Street looming over St Margaret Pattens church.
The 38 storey 20 Fenchurch Street, also known as the "walkie talkie" building, is 525 feet tall. Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor "sky garden" was opened in January 2015.
The building gets it's "walkie talkie" nickname because of it's shape and is not without some controversy. It won the Carbuncle Cup in 2015, awarded by Building Design magazine to the worst new building in the UK during the previous year.
During the building's construction, it was discovered that for a period of up to two hours each day if the sun shines directly onto the building, it acts as a concave mirror and focuses light onto the streets to the south. Spot temperature readings at street-level including up to 91 °C (196 °F) and 117 °C (243 °F) were observed during summer 2013, when the reflection of a beam of light up to six times brighter than direct sunlight shining onto the streets beneath damaged parked vehicles.
In July 2015, the building was criticised in having an unexpected impact on wind strength at street-level. The City of London Corporation received an increased number of complaints about draughts around 20 Fenchurch Street following its completion.
St Margaret Pattens church was first recorded in 1067, at which time the church was probably built from wood. It was then rebuilt in stone but fell into disrepair and had to be demolished in 1530. It was rebuilt again in 1538 but was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present church was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1687. It is one of only a few City churches to have escaped significant damage in the Second World War.
Big Talker
Photographed from Eastcheap, opposite Rood Lane, with the massive building at 20 Fenchurch Street looming over St Margaret Pattens church.
The 38 storey 20 Fenchurch Street, also known as the "walkie talkie" building, is 525 feet tall. Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor "sky garden" was opened in January 2015.
The building gets it's "walkie talkie" nickname because of it's shape and is not without some controversy. It won the Carbuncle Cup in 2015, awarded by Building Design magazine to the worst new building in the UK during the previous year.
During the building's construction, it was discovered that for a period of up to two hours each day if the sun shines directly onto the building, it acts as a concave mirror and focuses light onto the streets to the south. Spot temperature readings at street-level including up to 91 °C (196 °F) and 117 °C (243 °F) were observed during summer 2013, when the reflection of a beam of light up to six times brighter than direct sunlight shining onto the streets beneath damaged parked vehicles.
In July 2015, the building was criticised in having an unexpected impact on wind strength at street-level. The City of London Corporation received an increased number of complaints about draughts around 20 Fenchurch Street following its completion.
St Margaret Pattens church was first recorded in 1067, at which time the church was probably built from wood. It was then rebuilt in stone but fell into disrepair and had to be demolished in 1530. It was rebuilt again in 1538 but was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The present church was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1687. It is one of only a few City churches to have escaped significant damage in the Second World War.