Sun screen: Walkie Talkie to get solar glare protection installed
London’s “Walkie Talkie” skyscraper is to get a new sun shade installed.
The distinctive new office building Fenchurch Street in the City of London hit the headlines last year when power reflections of the sun melted car parks on streets below and were capable of frying an egg.
Just as London temperatures are set to rise, the developer Land Securities has announced that local planners have consented to a new sun shade being added to the building.
Work to install a “brise soleil” external solution to the building will begin next month, said Land Securities in a statement as they released their financial results for the year ending March 2014.
“20 Fenchurch Street, one of our most financially successful developments yet, has so far delivered a valuation surplus of £137.2m. The combination of location, timing, form and function mean the building is now 87% let with an average lease length of 17 years,” the statement said.
The developer and landowner expects to see a shortage of Grade A space in London until at least late 2016.