Shard of Glass Breaking Ground Soon

wjfox2004 wrote:

If you read further in that PDF, Johnson would also block any developments along Blackfriars Road and the South Bank, an area which is meant to be seeing fantastic regeneration.

"fantastic regeneration" is pushing it a bit. Yeah, it'll be nicer, in a new-build, glass-and-steel, 15-year lifetime sort of way. And you may get an influx of wealthier workers and associated boutiques, but not everyone living on Bankside is suddenly going to be in a position to buy their food at the new M&S Simply Food or dine at Leon when their local, non-chain shop disappears.

wjfox2004 wrote:

UNESCO have threatened to remove "World Heritage" status from the Tower of London if the Shard goes ahead.

What does that actually mean in terms of loaves of bread and the price of coffee?

Demolition is well underway now - you can see the upper floors being stripped out. Credit to fitz44 of SkyscraperCity.com for this image:-

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa278/fit3xl/london/London998.jpg

Piling and groundwork is expected to commence on site as early as July.

Meanwhile... over in the City, demolition is nearing the final stages on a number of other big skyscraper sites. Check out my Summary thread for details -

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=580666

wjfox - this is excellent news for the London Bridge area. Do you know if there are any plans to do anything with the Guy's Hospital building? It will be even more of an eyesore than it is now when seen next to the Shard.

designateddriver wrote:

wjfox - this is excellent news for the London Bridge area. Do you know if there are any plans to do anything with the Guy's Hospital building? It will be even more of an eyesore than it is now when seen next to the Shard.

Last August, there were rumours that it could be demolished. See this thread:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=513615

I haven't really heard anything since then.

Agreed it's a hideous and oppressive building. If they can't demolish it for whatever reason, they should at least consider a major reclad. Perhaps they could install solar panels like they did to the CIS Tower in Manchester.

There are plans to clean and possibly reclad the Guy's Tower by 2010:
http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/2932

I would certainly agree with the view that Guy's is a very oppressive building. Looking towards the City of London from the Elephant and Castle, you realise the sheer bulk of the building with it really dominating the landscape and making the Gherkin and Tower 42 appear small in the background.

In this instance I would question how aesthetically pleasing a reclad of Guy's tower would be. Given that it was designed as a brutalist building, its imposing form may be unsuited to an external redesign.

The initial shots of Alfred Hitchcock's 1972 film ‘Frenzy' show Guy's tower during construction; the intro sequence also shows some stunning aerial views of the SE1 area for those that may be interested.

Am I alone in liking the Guy's Hospital building as it is? I like the way it reminds me of a dog. You have to like dogs, and buildings reminiscent of dogs.

reece wrote:

Am I alone in liking the Guy's Hospital building as it is? I like the way it reminds me of a dog. You have to like dogs, and buildings reminiscent of dogs.

I'm with you Reece, I like the brutalism of the Guys tower too. It certainly needs a clean up but when it comes to NHS funding, I would like to think that a reclad for Guys is way down the priority list.

reece wrote:

Am I alone in liking the Guy's Hospital building as it is? I like the way it reminds me of a dog. You have to like dogs, and buildings reminiscent of dogs.

There's me too - I think it's a very interesting building and has lots of character.
I recently heard that it has an auditorium somewhere near the 30th floor. The underside of which is visible as that great slope outwards near the top.
I think over the years it will become even more interesting as a counterpoint to all the new and shiny towers going up and therefore enriching the mix of the skyline.

Besides, it currently only dominates the skyline as it is the tallest / biggest structure around there. Once the Shard is up the focus will change dramatically.

A couple of floors have been removed from the top. This was taken by almazUK on flickr.com -

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2407/2434086653_68bf001067_b.jpg

2 down, 23 to go :-)