Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CITY SKYSCRAPERS
The economic recession notwithstanding, the City skyline is continuing to sprout a whole new
generation of glass-clad
skyscrapers
. From 1980, for thirty years, the City's tallest building was
600ft
NatWest Tower
(now
Tower 42
;
W
tower42.com)
by Richard Seifert (in the shape of the
bank's logo), which has a public bar on the 42nd floor (prior booking required). In 2010, this was
topped by the
Heron Tower
(
W
herontower.com), a fairly undistinguished 660ft skyscraper with
a 144ft mast at 110 Bishopsgate, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox - on the plus side, it has a
70,000-litre aquarium in the atrium, a “sky bar” on the 40th floor, accessed via the
Sushisamba
glass lifts, and the restaurant
Duck and Wa
e
(see p.376). Rafael Viñoly's 525ft
Walkie Talkie
,
20 Fenchurch St (
W
20fenchurchstreet.co.uk), so-called because it's wider at the top than the
bottom, includes a free public “sky garden” café and restaurant on the roof.
The Cheesegrater
,
Richard Rogers' 737ft tapered o
ce block at 122 Leadenhall St (
W
theleadenhallbuilding.com) is
remarkable not simply for its triangular shape but also for its giant steel frame and its 90ft-high
ground-floor Galleria, which will feature lawns and mature trees and will be open to the public.
Kohn Pedersen Fox are also responsible for
The Scalpel
, a twisted 620ft angular shard of glass
in Lime Street, due for completion in 2017. The only skyscraper that's failed so far to get off the
ground is the
Pinnacle
, 22-24 Bishopsgate (
W
londonpinnacle.com), also by Kohn Pedersen
Fox, a swirling 945ft helter-skelter of a tower, which has been re-nicknamed “The Stump” after
work stopped in 2012 with only seven floors of the concrete core built. If the Pinnacle fails to
get built, the City will remain just behind Canary Wharf, and a long way below the country's
tallest building, the 1016ft
Shard
over at London Bridge (see p.232).
11
reinsurance market in the world. Some things never change, though, and the building
is still guarded by porters in antiquated waiters' livery, in recognition of Lloyd's origins
as Edward Lloyd's coffee house in 1688.
Lloyd's started out in shipping, but the famous
Lutine Bell
, salvaged from a captured
French frigate in 1799 and traditionally struck once for bad news, twice for good, now
only tolls once to commemorate more general disasters, twice for distinguished guests.
The highlights of the interior are the
Underwriting Room
, centred on the aforementioned
Lutine Bell, above which an incredible barrel-vaulted glass atrium rises almost 200ft, and
the
Adam Room
, a dining room designed by Robert Adam in 1763 for Bowood House,
Wiltshire, and now incongruously positioned on the eleventh floor. Dress code for
visitors is jacket and tie for men and business-style for women.
Leadenhall Market
Gracechurch St • Market: Mon-Fri 10am-5pm •
W
leadenhallmarket.co.uk •
!
Bank or Monument
Occupying
the very site where Roman London's basilica and forum once stood,
Leadenhall Market
is graceful Victorian cast-ironwork is richly painted in cream and
maroon, with each of the four entrances to the covered arcade topped by an elaborate
stone arch. Inside, the traders cater mostly for the lunchtime City crowd, their barrows
laden with exotic seafood and game, fine wines, champagne and caviar, while the
surrounding shops and bars remain busy until the early evening.
Bevis Marks Synagogue
4 Heneage Lane • Mon, Wed & Thurs 10.30am-2pm, Tues & Fri 10.30am-1pm, Sun 10.30am-12.30pm • £4 • Guided tours Wed & Fri
11.15am, Sun 10.45am; free •
T
020 7626 1274,
W
bevismarks.org.uk •
!
Aldgate
Hidden away behind a red-brick off
ce block in a little courtyard off Bevis Marks is
the Bevis Marks Synagogue. Built in 1701 by Sephardic Jews who had originally fled
the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, this is the country's oldest surviving synagogue,
and its roomy, rich interior gives an idea of just how wealthy the community was at
the time. Although it seats over six hundred, it's only a third of the size of its prototype
in Amsterdam, where many Sephardic Jews initially settled. The Sephardic community
has since moved out to Maida Vale and Wembley, and the congregation has dwindled,
FROM TOP
THE LLOYD'S BUILDING
P.175
; LEADENHALL MARKET
P.176
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