Views from the Gherkin

A couple of weeks ago I dragged Lesley along to the top floor of the Gherkin for some champagne at the Searcy's bar there. It was pretty expensive (£15 a glass, so my sister might have a point when she says I've got more money than sense), but for the experience of going up a tall building in London and taking photos, it was worth the money.

The light on the day wasn't great, unfortunately, and it had been raining just before we got there, so the photos aren't the best quality (although some of them do have a kind of vintage cinema sheen to them because they're a bit fuzzy). However the views were amazing, and we had fun playing spot-the-landmark, and in my case, spot-the-buildings-I've-been-to-before.

The Gherkin is one of those buildings that looks quite delicate from afar, and then you get up close and you realise it's flipping massive.

The bar is actually right in the top of the building:

Very tall buildings and raindrops:

(I have briefly been to the bar in this one and posted photos here: http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/views-from-heron-tower.html)

View towards Canary Wharf:

Two stupid buildings (seriously, what is that one on the left doing?):

Tower Bridge/Tower of London/City Hall etc.:

And finally, the building on the right of this picture (with the red umbrellas) is the Allen and Overy officers, where I went last year as part of Open House (pics here: http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/open-hooooooouse-2015-9.html).

20 Fenchurch Street

This is the building that is bigger at the top than the bottom, in case anyone's wondering which of the newest London skyscrapers I'm on about. I'd read about it and seen it from a distance, but today was the first day I got up close. I did this by going up The Monument, which is a MASSIVE bargain compared to The View From The Shard. Pics and rambling about that later. 
     
20 Fenchurch Street is also known as the Walkie-Talkie, and (surprise surprise) is quite unpopular. Possibly equally unsurprisingly, I rather like it. It's an odd addition to the skyline, but it has a sort of charm. The curve of the building does make it rather look like an optical illusion in real life. 

The Walkie-Talkie, which in fact looks more like a brimming pint glass, is the most incongruous thing to have appeared on the London horizon for some time – quite an achievement in a city that has recently seen the erection of the Strata, a three-eyed Mordor tower at Elephant and Castle with its trinity of rooftop turbines; and a giant shard of glass at London Bridge.

- from http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2012/dec/12/walkie-talkie-fenchurch-street-architecture

When it's open, the building is due to have a three-level 'skygarden' which will be open to everyone for free (looking forward to that already), so that's a big big point in its favour. There are the usual arguments about blocking views and buildings not being in keeping with their surroundings, but this is London. Nothing ever stays still for long. 

(there are other issues about companies building towers as vanity projects - I believe the Shard still doesn't have a single tenant - but that's a whole other issue)