20 Fenchurch Street

"The Walkie Talkie" redirects here. For other topics, see walkie-talkie (disambiguation).

51°30′41.000″N 0°5′1.000″W / 51.51138889°N 0.08361111°W / 51.51138889; -0.08361111

20 Fenchurch Street
20 Fenchurch Street in 2015, viewed from the roof balcony of City Hall
Map
General information
StatusCompleted
Architectural styleNeo-futurism
LocationLondon, EC3
Construction startedJanuary 2009
CompletedApril 2014[1]
OwnerLee Kum Kee[2]
Height
Roof160 m (525 ft)
Technical details
Floor count37 (plus three-storey "sky garden")
Floor areaOffices: 668,926 square feet (62,100 m2)[3]
Design and construction
Architect(s)Rafael Viñoly
DeveloperLand Securities and Canary Wharf Group
Structural engineerHalcrow Yolles
Main contractorCanary Wharf Contractors
Awards and prizesCarbuncle Cup
Website
skygarden.london

20 Fenchurch Street is a commercial skyscraper in London that takes its name from its address on Fenchurch Street, in the historic City of London financial district. It has been nicknamed "The Walkie-Talkie" because of its distinctive shape, said to resemble a walkie-talkie handset.[4] Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor "sky garden" was opened in January 2015.[5] The 38-storey building is 160 m (525 ft) tall. Since July 2017, the building has been owned by Lee Kum Kee Groups.

Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly and costing over £200 million, 20 Fenchurch Street features a highly distinctive top-heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. The entrance floor and 34 floors of office space are topped by a large viewing deck. A bar and restaurants are included on the 35th, 36th and 37th floors; these are, with restrictions, open to the public.[6]

The tower was originally proposed at nearly 200 m (656 ft) tall but its design was scaled down after concerns about its visual impact on the nearby St Paul's Cathedral and Tower of London. It was subsequently approved in 2006 with the revised height. Even after the height reduction there were continued concerns from heritage groups about its impact on the surrounding area. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Ruth Kelly, called in the project for another public inquiry[7] which, in 2007, ruled in the developers' favour and the building was granted full planning permission.[8] In 2015 it was awarded the Carbuncle Cup for the worst new building in the UK in the previous 12 months.[9][10]

In 2013 Paul Finch of the Design Council CABE said he regretted supporting the project during the public inquiry, saying that the developers "made a mess of it" and were architects of their own misfortune.[11][12]

  1. ^ Beioley, Kate (13 January 2014). "DWF to move into Walkie Talkie building". The Lawyer. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian-20170727 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Schedule of areas". 20 Fenchurch Street. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  4. ^ Heathcote, Edwin (4 November 2011). "Points on views". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  5. ^ "20 Fenchurch Street Opens". Skyscrapernews.com. 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  6. ^ "City Garden Bar - Sky Garden - London". Sky Garden.
  7. ^ "20 Fenchurch Street Called In - Article #789". www.skyscrapernews.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  8. ^ Land Securities (July 2007). "Land Securities' 20 Fenchurch Street Tower Approved" (PDF). landsecurities.com. Land Securities Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference bd_carbuncle was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Wainwright, Oliver (2 September 2015). "Carbuncle Cup: Walkie Talkie wins prize for worst building of the year". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  11. ^ "The 9 Most Controversial Buildings of All Time". ArchDaily. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Finch 'regrets' supporting Viñoly's 'dumbed-down' Walkie Talkie tower". Architects Journal. Retrieved 31 October 2018.