20 Fenchurch Street: a building that melts cars
At 525 foot tall, the 37-storey “Walkie-Talkie” skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street in London’s EC3 was meant to turn heads. Instead it’s already doing a lot more: it’s melting cars.
The 680,000 square foot tower, built by Land Securities in partnership with the Canary Wharf Group, is due for completion in March 2014 and has been lauded as “visually distinctive” and “designed for maximum efficiency”. What developers didn’t anticipate, however, was the attention they’d attract as a result of the dazzling beam that the tower is reflecting. This has forced pedestrians to shield their eyes and damaged vehicles parked in the vicinity.
Amongst the “victims” has been a tiling company director named Martin Lindsay. After parking his Jaguar XJ on a street near it for just one hour, he returned to find the car’s plastic panels warped and melted beyond repair. Similarly, Eddie Cannon, a heating and air conditioning engineer, returned to find his Vauxhall Vevaro van badly damaged also. He told The Independent:
“The van looks a total mess – every bit of plastic on the left hand side and everything on the dashboard has melted, including a bottle of Lucozade that looks like it has been baked. When I got in the van it was a really strange light – like it was illuminated and they were filming”.
In response, the developers have issued a statement. It reads:
“As a precautionary measure, the City of London has agreed to suspend three parking bays in the area which may be affected. The developers are on the site. It’s their priority to find out more and see what kind of solution can be out into place”.
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