Shard skyscraper attracts more tenants February 13, 2014 SIX TENANTS have now taken up space in London’s glass-clad skyscraper the Shard, with 170,000 square feet or 30 per cent of the building’s office space now let. Developer Irvine Seller confirmed that venture capitalists Foresight Group and lawyers Mathys & Squire were among the new tenants to have taken space, with companies due to [...]
Walkie Scorchie to apply sun block February 11, 2014 THE SKYSCRAPER dubbed the Walkie Scorchie is to be armed with “horizontal aluminium fins” that will cross the tower from top to bottom to prevent its windows reflecting the ultra-bright rays that dazzled passers-by last summer. According to plans submitted this week and seen by City A.M., developers Land Securities and Canary Wharf want to [...]
History repeating? The Walkie Scorchie’s Plan B February 11, 2014 SHIELD your eyes, the curtain has been pulled back on the plans for the Walkie Scorchie and its indiscriminate burn beams. Land Securities has been working with Rafael Vinoly’s architecture firm to create a solution to stop the building’s curved surface from reflecting super-strong beams of sunlight onto the road below (as happened in September, [...]
New tenant for British Land’s Cheesegrater January 28, 2014 BRITISH Land said yesterday it has secured another tenant at the Cheesegrater skyscraper as the property giant reported growing demand for London office space. Australian serviced office provider Servcorp has signed a deal to take the whole of the 30th floor of British Land and Oxford Properties’ development on Leadenhall Street, which is due to [...]
Walkie Talkie owner to submit plans to fix ray January 22, 2014 PROPERTY giant Land Securities said yesterday that it is close to submitting plans to solve the Walkie Talkie’s ultra-bright reflective rays that dazzled passers-by and melted parts of nearby cars last summer. Chief executive Rob Noel said it will submit a planning application to fix “the solar glare issue” to the City of London next [...]
Walkie Scorchie owner says ray is almost fixed November 12, 2013 LAND Securities’ chief executive said yesterday that the developer is close to fixing problems with the Walkie Talkie and that the skyscraper’s ultra-bright reflective rays had not put off potential tenants. The building, a joint venture with Canary Wharf Group, was dubbed the Walkie Scorchie after it began reflecting a beam of light this summer [...]
Walkie Scorchie architect admits his building emits death rays September 8, 2013 THE ARCHITECT responsible for the Walkie Scorchie skyscraper – previously known as 20 Fenchurch Street – has finally broken cover and admitted that his building has a few issues with reflecting light. Rafael Vinoly kept quiet in the immediate aftermath of City A.M.’s world exclusive that a light beam has melted cars parked nearby. But [...]
City Matters: Why the City’s buildings must adapt to suit a vibrant and commercial future September 8, 2013 THE STORY of the “Walkie-Scorchie” has taken the world by storm – following City A.M.’s revelation last week that a Jaguar had “melted” in the heat on Eastcheap. This brought global attention to the new buildings that are nosing skywards in the east of our Square Mile. It also highlighted the difficult and delicate process [...]
Sunscreen goes up to block rays from Walkie Scorchie skyscraper September 3, 2013 THE DEVELOPERS behind the Walkie Talkie skyscraper last night began erecting an enormous screen in an attempt to block the building’s ultra-bright reflections – but not before City A.M. harnessed the power of the beam to fry an egg. Exactly 347 years after the Great Fire of London ravaged the City, we took advantage of a hotspot [...]
Eggsclusive: We use the Walkie Scorchie light beam to fry an egg September 3, 2013 The developers of the Walkie Scorchie skyscraper – aka 20 Fenchurch Street – had hoped their building would be known for its striking design and its blue chip clients. But instead City A.M. has revealed how the building has begun emitting a curious ray of light, started melting cars, set a carpet on fire and cracked [...]