Tabard Tower blue box

Would be interesting if the colours varied with the changing air pollution levels.
The sooty deposit that builds up on window sills in SE1 is amazing.
I have my binoculars ready for when the Tower residents move in. I want to know if
they're watching me watching them watching me.

I still think it's a phenomenal waste of electricity for little seeming reward, although I'll wait for James' full report with interest to see if it's powered by renewable energy.

Am glad they've thought about the light pollution aspect though.

phoney wrote:

Would be interesting if the colours varied with the changing air pollution levels.

They could easily do that.....just by NOT changing the colour. Then, any colour change you see would be due to a change in air quality.

I didn't think of that Ivanhoe

Ms Jo, when the building is fully operational and the stairwells, lifts and flats are lit from dusk 'til dawn,
I imagine topping the whole thing off with a changing colour effect would be welcome.
I am disappointed when it goes off at 6:30pm.
It would be interesting to see the results if James could re-introduce the POLL feature. My guess is
most people would be in favour of having it on until midnight at least, although the results might
differ before and after the whole building is lit up.
The only drawback with the POLL software is that with such a low voting base the results can easily
be manipulated by deleting the SE1 cookie and voting again ever time you log on.
As for the environmental side, I doubt if it has any more consequences than one of those battered
chicken signs that adorn Borough High St.

The Unladylike Ms. Jo wrote:

I dont have any expectation about seeing stars from the city, its just nice from time to time, but I do think its a bit much having a large, very bright, constantly changing object vying for one's attention in one's living room every evening. 6.30pm I can probably put up with if others like it, but not all evening every evening.
(anyway I didn't have a lot of choice about living here, and have even less choice now)

Can't resist, TUMJ - I too have 'a large, very bright, constantly changing objet' vying for my attention at various times of the [usually] early morning - it's the Moon in various phases as it tracks across my west facing windows. The full version can be incredibly bright and when the reflected light wakes me it's some compensation to watch the movement across the window and realise how fast we are all travelling through space...oops I'm getting a bit philosphical. Reality check - must object to anything Berkeley Homes do.......

You're right to point out the paradox. I think I found the lightbox awful but the moon pleasant because of the striking colour of the lightbox and particularly because of the colour change every 10 seconds. It is also much larger than the moon. You are right that there is a psychological element to it though. I have often wondered why I find traffic noise objectionable but birdsong lovely, even though both can keep me awake early in the morning. I've never found a satisfying answer to that one.

Having found out its a barometer, I feel its quite intriguing, but I wish they had made it MUCH smaller. Really, at the end of the day, its main function is surely not as a barometer but as a 'feature' to draw attention to the development, just an interesting twist on the old clock and thermometer thing that you often see.

If you are hinting that my objections are motivated by a dogmatic dislike of Berkeleys, I can assure you that's not the case. As it happens, I do dislike many things that Berkeleys have done, but not everything, and I hope I dislike them because of their effects and not because they are to do with Berkeleys (though who knows what unconscious associations are at play). I can assure you I would find the lightbox equally difficult were it on top of Guys Hospital.

Sorry, TUMJ the Berkeleys comment was TIC, very firmly. The Tabard square light box does seem too intrusive and certainly is only there to help publicise the development. It's also a massive waste of energy, as are many of the lights I can see from my windows at night. That said, a light box on top of Guys would at least distract from the mass of that particular concrete lump.

A barometer would be much more useful if it showed the pressure trend (ie. rising or falling and how fast). So its kind of only half a barometer.

The Unladylike Ms. Jo wrote:

A barometer would be much more useful if it showed the pressure trend (ie. rising or falling and how fast). So its kind of only half a barometer.

Shame it's not a bar

Yes. A bar at the top of the tower would be much more useful.