London Open House 2010 - Saturday

[london1967]

We have been playing tourists in London the whole week-end as it was possible to visit many buildings not normally open to the public.

On Saturday our first stop was the new Broadgate Tower in the City of London, just off Bishopsgate.



After queueing for about 40 minutes in the shade, in what felt like a wind tunnel we were finally allowed in; the view from the empty 17th floor was magnificent, thanks also to the floor to ceiling windows



We also visited the lobby of the building next door (201 Bishopsgate) and I was rather mesmerised by the angular surfaces and all the reflections



The City of London is always exciting to visit: among the office blocks there is a warren of alleyways and many historic buildings sit next to modern ones creating some fascinating contrasts

We visited 3 churches, all very different: St. Helen Bishopsgate, St. Mary Abchurch and St. Stephen Walbrook.

This is the painted dome of St. Mary Abchurch ("The worship of Heaven", by William Snow, 1708).

Next stop was the 'Roman' Baths just off the Strand (and patronised by David Copperfield).
Both statements are fictional, as the plunge pool is not Roman but Tudor.

Last stop of the day, was a guided tour of 55 Broadway, the London Underground Head Office, built in 1927/1929 and at the time the tallest steel-frame building in London. (We were lucky to get the tickets as apparently they sold out in 15 minutes when they went on sale).

The tour was very interesting: we went up to the terrace and roof gardens where you can enjoy some lovely views of London (with panels comparing the present skyline with the 1930s)
 

toured the Art Deco interiors, and the outside with the controversial (at the time) sculptures by Epstein

(apparently the penis had to be shortened, as it attracted many complaints).

When you walk around London for leisure, you notice and appreciate many more details

(I have included this picture of the London Eye and the Swiss Re building - i.e. "The gherkin", because it's interesting for the perspective. The picture was taken north of the Thames, the London Eye is south of the river but the 'Gherkin' is north again, in the City). 
 

You can see more photos here:

Comments

[dancer44.livejournal.com]

Fascinating, Franco

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[nzguy1.livejournal.com]

Great account Franco. I love the mix of old and new in london, especially those wonderful churches. Picture 4 with the old stone building and the 'gherkin' looks as if it is a scene from "Dr Who". We are having our open house in Brisbane October 2nd, so we are hoping to manage time off for some of the amazing places on offer.

[london1967.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, Adrian said the same about Doctor Who!

Hope you'll manage to get the time off!

[pupdadco.livejournal.com]

Every year in April, they do an event called "Doors Open Denver" very similar to this..it's always fun to go into places you've never been..looks like you had a great time!

[london1967.livejournal.com]

It's great that there are similar events all around the world!

[inbhirnis.livejournal.com]

Wow - that first picture looks as if the new tower is a CGI image, and not a real thing..!

[london1967.livejournal.com]

It's quite breathtaking when you see it for the first time!