Eyesore or beauty? The 14 postwar office blocks listed by English Heritage January 28, 2015 Whether you're a fan or take an altogether more "Prince Charles" attitude to post-war architecture, office buildings provide some of the finest examples of it. And turns out English Heritage thinks it's worth preserving: the organisation has listed 14 of the UK's best-loved (or most-hated) post-war offices. According to English Heritage, the buildings – which [...]
TfL has ambitious plans to become London’s largest property developer within decade January 28, 2015 In another sign the London property market is the place to be right now, Transport for London (TfL) has become the latest to get involved, making a serious bid to become one of the capital’s property supremos. More than 500 sites owned by TFL across London, including its former headquarters in a Grade-I listed building [...]
How London’s brutalist Centre Point tower is being turned into luxury flats with a view January 26, 2015 Both reviled and admired, London’s Centre Point tower at the east end of Oxford Street has stirred controversy ever since it was first erected in 1966. A beehive of concrete and glass, its brutalist-style was regarded as an eyesore on the skyline and the fact that a building of its height (it is 117 metres [...]
Centre Point revamps with luxury apartments and new retail space January 26, 2015 Work is beginning on London's iconic Centre Point Tower today in the hope of creating a swanky new retail and restaurant destination in the heart of the capital. The 1960s skyscraper, owned by investment company Almacantar, will be home to 82 luxury apartments as well as new retail and restaurant space. A new public piazza [...]
Watch: Exclusive look inside the Walkie Talkie’s Sky Garden January 13, 2015 After many moons of waiting, the Walkie Talkie's Sky Garden was launched to the public yesterday. At 38 storeys high, the garden was one of the conditions of the Walkie Talkie's (or 20 Fenchurch Street, to give it its correct name) planning permission, but it's received heavy criticism after it emerged visitors will need a [...]
Does the Walkie Talkie have a wind problem? January 12, 2015 We all know about the Walkie Talkie’s sunshine problem, when beams from the skyscraper were reflecting on to the streets below and melting cars (sort of). Well, now it seems the building has a wind problem. It’s been windy over the last few days but the gusts have been noticeably worse around the base [...]
Southbank gets the thumbs up from Ignis Property Fund with £30m purchase January 12, 2015 The Ignis Property Fund has bought a slice of the Southbank’s regeneration, having acquired the freehold of both a residential and commercial space in Southwark for £30m. The investment firm has bought 1 America Street and 29 Great Guildford Street, an office and residential building on an island site, from the Trustees of the SE10NE Co-ownership. [...]
Paris attacks: London’s Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery lit up in show of solidarity with France January 11, 2015 Some of London's most famous landmarks were illuminated by the colours of the French flag tonight, in a special tribute to the victims of this week's terror attacks in Paris. The Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery were lit up with red, white and blue light – the colours of the French flag. [...]
Walkie Talkie Sky Garden: Bookings roll in but rules have riled January 5, 2015 The lifts of 20 Fenchurch Street opened to the public yesterday, with roughly 80 excited guests heading up to be among the first to experience the building’s Sky Garden. Booking opened to visitors on 1 December and according to Rhubarb, the company running the Sky Garden’s attractions, it has been popular, with 500 bookings for [...]
The Walkie Talkie has opened its Sky Garden to the public, but is it the City’s ugliest building? January 5, 2015 Christopher Costelloe is director of the Victorian Society, says Yes Despite tough competition – the new UBS HQ in Broadgate promises to be quite remarkably ugly when completed – the Walkie Talkie is probably the ugliest building in London. We owe its architect, Rafael Vinoly, a great debt for demonstrating precisely why almost all buildings [...]