20 Fenchurch Street

20 Fenchurch Street is a under construction skyscraper in Fenchurch Street in the City of London. In the press the skyscraper is sometimes given its form as The walkie -talkie or The Pint (English: the beer glass ) refers.

On the top floor there will be a publicly available large observation deck, in the midst of which the so-called Sky Gardens are also located.

Originally a height of 200 m was planned; this was reduced by the proximity to St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London.

Architecture

The building was designed by the Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly.

On the upside, constantly enlarge the surfaces of floors, so that the top floor projects far beyond the footprint of the building. This will maximize the surfaces of the upper floors makes which promise higher rental income than the bottom. Since only the south side will be hit by direct sunlight, allows for ventilation of the facade of an efficient air conditioning of the building, while west and east sides are largely located in the shade. The botanical garden on the top floor will be London's highest public park.

The curvature of the glass facade with the result that reflected sunlight occurs so strongly focused at specific sites in the area, for example, that the plastic of parked cars will be damaged. Therefore, several parking spaces were blocked; a solution of the problem is still pending. A similar problem also occurs when also designed by Rafael Viñoly Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas.

Construction work

Work on the foundations began in January 2009; in June of the same year this section was completed. On 20 January 2011, work began on the basement; reached the street level building in October 2011. The core of the building was finally completed in March 2012. In December 2012, the attachment of the steel structure has been completed.

Photos of the construction process

January 2013

June 2013