- Estimated completion 2014
- Height 525ft (160m)
- 36 floors
- 94,000 sqm
- Architect Rafael Vinoly
On 19th October 2010 Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group announced the formation of a partnership to develop 20 Fenchurch Street which had been one of several larger city projects to be shelved due to the economic downturn. The site had already been cleared for construction before the project was halted and subsequently sold to the Partnership for £90.2m
Following the formation of the partnership construction was announced to begin immediately on the substructure to bring the building up to ground floor level by February 2012 and although there is little activity on site at the moment, Land Securities reaffirmed today that progress is on track as per their last press release.
The overall design of the building by New York City based architects Rafael Vinoly has courted controversy with it's top heavy shape which features a sky garden overlooking the River Thames on the top three floors although the publicly accessible observation deck will provide arguably the best views of Canary Wharf, the Shard, the West End and The City from a single 360 degree platform.
On the skyline, 20 Fenchurch Street has been criticised as being somewhat bizarre looking, however the important chords for the design of this building were more about contributing sensitively to the built environment at street level. According to the architect, the building form is drawn back from it's maximum possible footprint to mirror the city street pattern while simultaneously establishing a visual connection to the emerging cluster of high rises, receding from nearby historic buildings and opening views through the site to contribute meaningfully to the immediate public realm.
No comments:
Post a Comment