London’s newest rooftop viewpoint

I have been known to grumble, every now and again, about the monstrous skyscrapers that have been filling the skyline of the City of London over the past couple of decades. However, I have to confess that I rather like the rooftop spaces that they have created for the public to enjoy. The newest addition to the list is The Garden at 120 at 120 Fenchurch Street.

The view from the Gardens at 120 across to the Walkie Talkie

A week after the public opening I took a look for myself. It’s not on most tourist itineraries yet, so there were just ten of us queuing for the morning opening (10 o’clock) while a much larger queue was in evidence just a short walk away at the Walkie Talkie. There might not have been many of us, but I was still impressed by the speed that the staff got everyone through the security checks and into the lift to enjoy the tranquility of the gardens fifteen storeys up. Over the next hour a steady trickle of visitors arrived to join us but nowhere enough to trouble the limits.

It was a glorious morning to go up top with the morning fog giving way to clear blue skies and full sun. Needless to say, the views of the surroundings were superb. The walkway around the gardens offered sight lines to St Pauls, the Walkie Talkie, Lloyd’s Building and the Gherkin. In particular, I liked the fact that you are looking across the rooftops of these mid-height buildings, rather than looking down from a great height with little chance of admiring the detail.

The garden aspect of the rooftop is still in its infancy but once the wisteria reaches maturity this will be a lovely spot. There are plenty of benches spread around the spacious rooftop and a handful of visitors were taking advantage of the opportunity to bask in a little of the unseasonably warm weather on offer today and admire the bravery of the cleaners washing the windows of the Scalpel next door.

If the planners at the City of London have anything to do with it we will see more accessible and free to enter roof terraces and spaces. The draft City Plan 2036 would require the provision of ‘free to enter, publicly accessible areas’ as part of all tall building developments to help deliver their vision of a more inclusive city.

Views of St Pauls and the Lloyd’s Building from the rooftop gardens

In the space of a week there have been quite a few reports from the rooftop, including IanVisits and Diamond Geezer. The Guardian also published an interesting architectural review of the development, describing it as a candy-striped miracle in the central London skies.

Information on opening hours and a live footfall counter is available on the official 120 Fenchurch Street website. In the rush to get up top don’t forget to admire the wonderful giant video screens (with accompanying sound installation) on the ceiling of the entrance.

Photography is permitted but a little tricky, on account of a sloping see through barrier that runs around the 360 degree perimeter of the roof garden. Not that it stopped anyone from trying today!

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Bank holiday sun atop the city

A couple of months ago I booked a table at one of the restaurants at 20 Fenchurch Street for my father’s 80th birthday, little suspecting that it would be a day of record breaking temperatures, beautiful blue skies and wall to wall sun. Perfect conditions for a lovely family occasion – a little wander round the Sky Garden followed by a leisurely meal as the sun set.

The view towards Canary Wharf from the Sky Garden

It was my first visit to the Sky Garden and I was impressed by the sights on offer, even if the feel of the space was more green airport concourse than public park to my mind. The outdoor terrace was closed throughout our time on floor 35 but even without this we still had the most wonderful views across the city and out to Canary Wharf (albeit with the shocking sight of a layer of pollution hanging over London).

The Sky Garden opened in January 2015 so my visit comes rather late in the day compared to most bloggers. It is interesting to see that the green element, such as it is, is a little more substantial than it appeared to the first visitors (the Evening Standard reported some users describing it as more of a “Sky Rockery”). It’s definitely worth a look though and a good deal easier to get up top now that the initial rush has subsided, though clearly still a very popular destination.

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The changing city skyline

Around a year and a half ago I wrote about the changing skyline of the city, noting how quickly the skeleton of the Walkie Talkie was going up. It looks like the external work is close to completion now, but the more remarkable sight is the cheesegrater which seems to have shot up at incredible speed (obscuring the Gherkin from my vantage point at Blackfriars). Moments like this make me appreciate just how quickly London’s skyline is changing right now, which I suspect we will look back on as a significant shift (even when you accept that this is a city in an almost constant process of evolution).

6th October 2012

1st February 2014

The completion of these two giants in 2014 is far from an end to the race into the skies. Although plans for a number of skyscrapers stalled during the recession, two more skyscrapers are now under construction – the “Scalpel” in the city at 52-54 Lime Street and the “Boomerang” on the other side of the river at One Blackfriars.

Rise of the Walkie Talkie

A moment on the balcony of the Tate Modern today highlighted how quickly the skeleton of the Walkie Talkie (officially known as 20 Fenchurch Street) is taking shape and how much of an impact it is going to make on the existing view of the City of London. The building really seems to impose itself on the skyline of the city and not in a good way. Remarkably, this is in spite of the design being down-sized from its original intended height.

The walkie talkie takes shape on the city skyline

Other new additions, such as the Gherkin, manage to be distinctive and attractive additions to the city without overwhelming their surroundings. I’m not sure the same can be said for the Walkie Talkie, particularly with its isolated position near the Thames and its much fatter top.

Walkie Talkie at sunset

The artist’s impressions of the viewing platform/sky gardens (see the urban 75 blog post Walkie Talkie tower, Fenchurch St crackles into life for a helpful overview) that are to be included on the top floor look very impressive and are sure to be a big tourist draw but I can’t help thinking it is a heavy price to pay for the effect it will have on the city skyline.