Walkie Talkie tower, Fenchurch St crackles into life

[editor]

I got to go up yesterday!

It's bugger all like the original leafy renders - a swish restaurant has replaced what was supposed to be a near forest, but the views are wonderful and I like the sleek, modernist lines.

http://www.urban75.org/blog/the-sky...lkie-tower-20-fenchurch-street-london-photos/

 

[hot air baboon]

...is that Spiderman traversing the roof in the last pic...?

 

[editor]

...is that Spiderman traversing the roof in the last pic...?

There were loads of workers scuttling over the roof.

 

[Crispy]

That's an amazing space. Shame it's such a sore thumb on the skyline

 

[editor]

That's an amazing space. Shame it's such a sore thumb on the skyline

It felt extra futuristic to me because there was hardly anyone there at all. The cafe has normal prices too, so it would be one one hell of a cool place to meet for a coffee (if you can get in - it's now fully booked to the end of March).

 

[hot air baboon]

...that first pic is a bit remensiscent of......

.....give it another 50 years.....

 

[DJWrongspeed]

That's an amazing space. Shame it's such a sore thumb on the skyline

Exactly it's in the wrong place. The view from the other side of tower bridge looking towards the tower of London is really screwed. Planning scrutiny FAIL.

 

[Winot]

Amusing review here:

http://www.theguardian.com/artandde...ie-talkie-the-more-you-pay-the-worse-the-view

How does that accord with your experience editor?

 

[editor]

Amusing review here:

http://www.theguardian.com/artandde...ie-talkie-the-more-you-pay-the-worse-the-view

How does that accord with your experience editor?

I think he's right about the view from the restaurant, but I think he's unduly harsh: or maybe I just saw it in its best light being a bright sunny day and almost empty. I really enjoyed the place.

 

[peterkro]

A third nearly metre long bolt broke on the building yesterday,it says it didn't fall because the bolts have been tethered (this presumably means they've stuck something under the head of the bolt and secured it to something else),not good for a nearly new building.

E2a Oops that's the cheese grater building,all much of a muchness to me.

 

[T & P]

Once the outside terrace is open to the public it'll be well worth the visit IMO. Don't particularly like the look of the cafe and its furniture. It looks like the typical cafe you'll find in a museum, a place where you'd only sit & use out of necessity.

Don't have a problem with the outside of the building. Its shape and colour are certainly striking and different. It reminds me a bit of EVE off Wall-E.

 

[hash tag]

I think it's great that bits of these places are open to the public and free. The Heron Tower is another, unlike the Shard which costs a fortune. If Miss Tag gets Friday off work, she may get treated to a VEGGIE breakfast up there; yup despite being in the city, modern and trendy, they have veggie brekkies
Please tell me the lifts are internal and not external. Th lifts up the Heron are a nightmare, a scary, horrible, Nauseating nightmare ( though I can see the appeal for some people, just not me).

 

[hash tag]

Unlike the heron tower, you can walk round all 360 degrees which is good. The views from the top are a little more manageable than from the top of the shard, which makes london look like toytown. Very expensive!

 

[kabbes]

I've had meetings in there. It was shit.

All these new buildings are shit.

 

[kabbes]

I think it's great that bits of these places are open to the public and free. The Heron Tower is another, unlike the Shard which costs a fortune. If Miss Tag gets Friday off work, she may get treated to a VEGGIE breakfast up there; yup despite being in the city, modern and trendy, they have veggie brekkies
Please tell me the lifts are internal and not external. Th lifts up the Heron are a nightmare, a scary, horrible, Nauseating nightmare ( though I can see the appeal for some people, just not me).

I've had meetings in Heron Tower too.

It wasn't as shit but it was still shit.

 

[kabbes]

A third nearly metre long bolt broke on the building yesterday,it says it didn't fall because the bolts have been tethered (this presumably means they've stuck something under the head of the bolt and secured it to something else),not good for a nearly new building.

E2a Oops that's the cheese grater building,all much of a muchness to me.

Not had a meeting in the cheesegrater yet (don't think anyone is in there yet?). But no doubt I will eventually and it will be shit.

 

[kabbes]

I worked for a bit in the Gherkin. It was shit.

I have lots of meetings in Lloyd's. It's great.

 

[sleaterkinney]

I've had breakfast in the Heron tower, I like the lifts. . But it looks more boring than the walkie talkie.

 

[19sixtysix]

All these new buildings are shit.

I work in a three year old flagship building. It is expensive and shit. Plumbings a joke, the air horrible, the stench below ground vile somedays, lighting horrible, stairs not in useful places, lifts over loaded.

 

[hash tag]

In addition to thouggts on 20 fenchurch st, the plants up there look like they are in a terrible state!

 

[Tony.]

I love the Walkie Talkie Tower. I'm interested in Modern Architecture, so I like it. This is my first post by the way, nice to meet you all.

 

[quimcunx]

Welcome.

You're wrong though. It's horrible regardless of any interest in modern architecture.

 

[Tony.]

Well, it comes down to preference. Some people like it, some don't. Me, I like it.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

I like it too. Ignore quimcunx. She comes from a part of the UK where wattle and daub is still de rigeur.

 

[Tony.]

It has a very distinctive shape. I like it.

 

[Chick Webb]

Please tell me the lifts are internal and not external. Th lifts up the Heron are a nightmare, a scary, horrible, Nauseating nightmare ( though I can see the appeal for some people, just not me).

I had to collect my boss's coat from the Heron Tower the day after a fire in Sushi Samba a while back. I thought the lifts were great! It was the highlight of my day. /saddo

I love their aquarium too. I think the walkie talkie is very ugly, but it amuses me that it used to have a death ray.

 

[hash tag]

For a cuppa at the walkie talkie, £3.50 and it comes in a bleedin cardboard cup!

 

[DJWrongspeed]

Wins the Carbuncle Cup 2015,

Hurrah. Reason has finally prevailed .....there's some other stinkers on this list too. Apparently it's got really bad wind around the base

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Wins the Carbuncle Cup 2015,

Hurrah. Reason has finally prevailed .....there's some other stinkers on this list too. Apparently it's got really bad wind around the base

Read that this morning too - good news. It is a horrible building so well deserving of the win.

 

[editor]

it's the winner of the Carbuncle Cup 2015!

It has singed shopfronts, melted cars and caused great gusts of wind to sweep pedestrians off their feet. Now the Walkie Talkie tower, the bulbous comedy villain of London’s skyline, has been bestowed with the Carbuncle Cup by Building Design (BD) magazine for the worst building of the year.

Responsible for a catalogue of catastrophes, it is hard to imagine a building causing more damage if it tried. It stands at 20 Fenchurch Street, way outside the city’s planned “cluster” of high-rise towers, on a site never intended for a tall building. It looms thuggishly over its low-rise neighbours like a broad-shouldered banker in a cheap pinstriped suit. And it gets fatter as it rises, to make bigger floors at the more lucrative upper levels, forming a literal diagram of greed.

Carbuncle Cup: Walkie Talkie wins prize for worst building of the year