20 Fenchurch Street
20 Fenchurch Street is a 160 metre, 36-storey skyscraper currently under construction in the City of London. It has been nicknamed The Walkie Talkie. Costing over £200m, it is designed by the Uruguayan born architect Rafael Viñoly and will feature a highly distinctive, top-heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. Opinions on the tower's design appear to be greatly polarised.Vorlage:Citation needed A large viewing deck and sky gardens will be included on the top floor. These will be open to the public.
The tower was originally proposed at nearly 200 metres tall, but was scaled down after concerns about its impact on St Paul's Cathedral. It was subsequently approved in November 2006. Even after this reduction, however, there were continued concerns from heritage groups about its impact on the surrounding area. The project subsequently went to a public inquiry. In July 2007, this ruled in the developers' favour, and the tower was granted full planning permission.[1]
In their preliminary results for 2007, Land Securities confirmed the new tower would be completed in 2011, however by the time of their Annual Report 2009, this date was pushed back to 2014.[2][3]
The old building
It was 91 m (299 ft) tall with 25 storeys and was built in 1968 by Land Securities. The architect was William H. Rogers.[4]
The building was formerly occupied by Dresdner Kleinwort, and was notable for being one of the first tall buildings in the Square Mile, and for its distinctive roof. It was one of the towers nearest to the River Thames when viewed from the southern end of London Bridge.
In 2007, one of the upper floors was used in the BBC drama series, Party Animals.
Demolition
Demolition of the old building is now complete. Despite the top-down method of construction, the old building was not demolished from the bottom up, as a temporary structure was built, allowing Keltbray, the demolition contractor, to demolish the building from the top down.[5]
Bauwesen
In January 2009, piling began on site, which meant the start of construction.
Piling and ground works were completed in June 2009 and after a period of inactivity the raising of the tower is set to kick start at the end of October 2010.[6]
On 20 January 2011, ample work at the basement level of the tower is under way [7]
See also
- City of London landmarks
- 30 St Mary Axe, more popularly known as The Gherkin
- Plantation Place, a neighbouring office building
- St Margaret Pattens, a neighbouring 17th century church
- Tower 42
References
External links
- ↑ Land Securities: LAND SECURITIES’ 20 FENCHURCH STREET TOWER APPROVED. (PDF) http://www.landsecurities.com, Juli 2007, archiviert vom am 28. September 2007; abgerufen am 10. Juli 2007.
- ↑ Land Securities: Land Securities Group PLC Preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2007. (PDF) http://www.landsecurities.com, Mai 2007, archiviert vom am 28. September 2007; abgerufen am 31. Mai 2007.
- ↑ Land Securities: Land Securities Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2009. (PDF) http://www.landsecurities.com, März 2009, abgerufen am 30. Oktober 2009.
- ↑ Times Online: William Rogers: architect of groundbreaking office towers. http://www.timesonline.co.uk, September 2008, abgerufen am 16. September 2008.
- ↑ Skyscrapernews.com: London Demolition Derby. http://skyscrapernews.com, August 2007, abgerufen am 10. August 2007.
- ↑ http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/uk/construction-to-start-immediately-on-vi%C3%B1olys-walkie-talkie/5007523.article
- ↑ http://londonist.com/2011/01/construction-of-walkie-talkie-tower-begins.php