Tag: cheesegrater building

Categories
Architecture People

City of London Guildhall Breakfast London + Tall Buildings

Towers of London

The collection of buildings that make up Guildhall could hardly be more eclectic. The Festival of Britain inspired Members’ Club by Sir Richard Gilbert Scott. The (rare) pseudo gothic Art Gallery also by Sir Richard. The medieval Great Hall with George Dance the Younger’s (rarer) Moghul gothic entrance. Sir Christopher Wren’s baroque St Lawrence Jury Church. The Private Dining Room of the Members’ Club has great views of these low rise buildings against a backdrop of skyscrapers.

Guildhall is his office and – it transpires – his midweek home. Chris Hayward, Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee of the City of London as of 2016 is clearly a busy man. There are more cranes piercing the horizon of the City now than in the 1980s. When the Elizabeth Line opens there’ll be more people, more pressure, more planning applications. “There’s nowhere like this in the world,” he believes. “The City is a major financial centre with medieval streets. It’s the powerhouse of Britain, the heart of economic growth, whatever they say in elections. Do you want to live in Frankfurt? I don’t!”

Chris refers to an extension of the ‘Eastern Cluster’ as the only part of the City suitable for more tall buildings, in order to preserve heritage elsewhere. “We could fill in the gap between the Walkie Talkie and the Cheesegrater. The skyline works. In the Square Mile we can only go up, not out. I’m a strong advocate of clustering.” He acknowledges others’ mistakes of the recent past. “I want the new generation of tall buildings to be more outward looking, more approachable. For example, the ground floor of the Leadenhall Building is very permeable. They should also have world class public spaces in between. I don’t want the City to be the new Manhattan: too many skyscrapers in Manhattan interact poorly at ground level.”

Contrary to most media missives, London’s skyline isn’t changing in a haphazard way. The City has developed a complex viewing model and is undertaking world class wind modelling work. The future isn’t only about offices scraping the sky. “There’s a forgotten area of the City along the riverfront near the Tower of London,” he explains. “It’s pretty awful but I have a vision of an amazing mixed use scheme of tallish – not ultra tall – buildings. It would need a change of planning policy to allow for residential use. I’ve asked my officers to look at it. Hot off the press! That’s your scoop!” Chris is also keen to see retail planning applications coming forward as well. Rumour has it that Selfridges and Harvey Nics would jump at the chance of opening in the City.

Categories
Architecture Luxury People Restaurants

The Leadenhall Building Bank + Heal’s Party Fitzrovia London

Lessons in Love 

If it’s good enough for Richard Rogers’ new office (Level 14) it’s good enough for the Lavender’s Blue wine and cheesegrater party (Level 42). Hurrah! With its head in the clouds, its body sandwiched between Lloyds and the Heron, and its feet formed of escalators between wonky pilotis, the good Lord’s wedge of glass pierces the horizon like an upturned diamond heel. Time to enjoy the high life up the The Leadenhall Building. Deep streets intertwine as fissures carved through the built form below. A turquoise tinged gold rimmed violet twilight consumes the sky all around. Later at Lavender’s Blue HQ, luxury caterer Purple Grape present vegetarian canapés to banish the blues forever: Griddled zucchini with artichoke and sun blush tomato; Kidderton Ash goats’ cheese on a ginger bread base ; Parmesan shortbread topped with gorgonzola and basil cress; and trio of naturally stained quail’s eggs with celery salt.

All served, obviously, on Lavender’s Blue and white plates. And a cheesegrater. Strategic Planning Manager Colin Wilson at the GLA is a fan of height. In a Lavender’s Blue exclusive he says, “We need to get away from objectification – our obsession, the media’s obsession, with tall buildings. Objectification misses the point of the city. The drama of the city is about totality. Appreciate the city for what it is. There are clusters of tall buildings but our capital is predominantly low rise. London isn’t Dubai. Its history and future are very different. Tall buildings aren’t the major issue; housing is.” Quite so. As always, Lavender’s Blue are on a high: uptown, upmarket, upscale, up our own.

Continuing to kick the heels up, Heal’s, for the well heeled, is the shop that likes to party. On three levels, as it turned out. To mark the finale of London Design Festival, in ascending order of floor, Prosecco, Aspall and Cointreau bars were installed while DJs serenaded guests. There was no time to lounge on Ligne Roset sofas or gossip across Kirsty Whyte designed Pinner tables with wooden spoon carving, ceramic painting, Sipsmith gin mixing and a vodka beetroot salmon gravadlax demonstration by Cambridge Cookery School (fortunately the latter required no audience participation save for the devouring bit) as distractions. Makers and Merchants’ chilli chocolate luscious lips stashed in the goody bag meant nobody left unkissed, if not quite level headed. No time for the flowers of Lavender’s Blue to wilt as Astrid Bray, London’s top hotelier, beckons in the direction of the single level Percy and Founders (the Fitzrovian restaurant with a chapel attached). Taking it to a whole new level, dinner awaits with the Park Lane ambassadress, the Green Park restaurateur and the Beverly Hills realtor – plus a certain Belgravia candle chandler who is a certain Gabhan O’Keeffe’s neighbour.