Recent additions to the London skyline have not been met with universal approval. The Gherkin, or Swiss Re, was perhaps the first modern skyscraper to provoke adverse comments, but now two more buildings, the Walkie-Talkie and The Shard, have taken over the mantle of the most disliked building in London.
The official name of the Walkie-Talkie building in London is 20, Fenchurch Street. The floors towards the top of the 160-metre high fan out to become wider than the base, as rents increase the higher up skyscrapers you go. When I was passing, there was a queue of people waiting to visit the Sky Garden on the topmost floor. The streets are narrow around hereabouts and it’s best to walk on to London Bridge, both to see the building from further away and to take any photos. The building won the Carbuncle Cup in 2015, for the worst new building in the UK from the previous year.
The concave curve of the Walkie-Talkie faces due south and during construction in 2013, it was discovered that if the sun shines directly onto the building from the south, the building acts like a vast mirror, focusing light onto the streets below. Spot temperature readings at street-level of between 91 and 117 degrees centigrade were taken. This concentrated beam of light was up to six times brighter than direct sunlight and damaged parked vehicles, melting paintwork and warping the metal.
No such destructive problems have hit the Shard, which can also be seen from London Bridge. This building is also referred to as the Shard of Glass, Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower. It is a 95-storey skyscraper, part of the London Bridge Quarter development. The Shard's construction began in March 2009 and it was topped out on 30 March 2012.
The Shard dominates the surrounding area, as you would expect a 1,000 foot tower to do, but what I found was that it tended to overpower the surrounding buildings, most notably Southwark Cathedral, so that you couldn’t look at the cathedral without being aware of The Shard’s overbearing presence. The building was designed by Renzo Piano and it is said he was inspired by the railway lines at London Bridge station next to the site, the London spires depicted by the Venetian painter Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships.Piano's design was criticised by English Heritage, who claimed the building would be "a shard of glass through the heart of historic London"; hence the name, the Shard.
In 2014, The Shard claimed first place at the Emporis Skyscraper Awards, recognising buildings over 100 metres completed in the previous twelve months. The judges hailed the building as "a skyscraper that is recognized immediately and which is already considered London's new emblem”. The Shard is 95% owned by the state of Qatar and is the London home of Al-Jazeera, the Doha-based state-funded broadcaster.
