The Walkie Talkie melted my Jag! - 20 Fenchurch Street (London, UK)
N 51° 30.676 W 000° 05.015
30U E 702366 N 5710715
The article in Daily Mail (September 3, 2013) informed readers about unforeseen effect of sunlight reflected from "Walkie Talkie" skyscraper which caused heat damage to cars beneath...
Waymark Code: WMQC9Z
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/03/2016
Views: 8
The article in Daily Mail (September 3, 2013) informed readers about unforeseen effect of sunlight reflected from "Walkie Talkie" skyscraper which caused heat damage to cars beneath...
...from the article:
The Walkie Talkie melted my Jag! Light reflected from under-construction City skyscraper buckles bodywork and mirror of businessman's car
- Sunlight reflected from skyscraper is causing heat damage to cars beneath
- Several panels of a Jaguar XJ had buckled in the glare
- Other drivers say their vehicles have wilted in the beam of light
A £200million skyscraper has had an undeniably dazzling effect on passers-by – but not, unfortunately, the one intended by its architect. 20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie Talkie due to its distinctive shape, is reflecting blinding rays of light onto the street below, damaging the panels and wing mirror of a Jaguar XJ. The car belongs to Martin Lindsay, the director of a tiling company, who parked his Jaguar in central London's Eastcheap on Thursday afternoon....
20 Fenchurch Street is a commercial skyscraper in London that takes its name from its address on Fenchurch Street, in the historic City of London financial district. It has been nicknamed 'The Walkie-Talkie' because of its distinctive shape. Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the top-floor 'sky garden' was opened in January 2015. The 34-storey building is 160 m tall, making it the fifth-tallest building in the City of London and the 13th tallest in London. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly and costing over £200 million, 20 Fenchurch Street features a highly distinctive top-heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. A large viewing deck, bar and restaurants are included on the top three floors; these are, with restrictions, open to the public.
During the building's construction, it was discovered that for a period of up to two hours each day if the sun shines directly onto the building, it acts as a concave mirror and focuses light onto the streets to the south. Spot temperature readings at street-level including up to 91 °C and 117 °C were observed during summer 2013, when the reflection of a beam of light up to six times brighter than direct sunlight shining onto the streets beneath damaged parked vehicles, including one on Eastcheap whose owner was paid £946 by the developers for repairs to melted bodywork. The reflection also burned or scorched the doormat of a shop in the affected area. The media responded by dubbing the building the "Walkie-Scorchie" and "Fryscraper".
In September 2013, the developers stated that the City of London Corporation had approved plans to erect temporary screening on the streets to prevent similar incidents, and that they were also "evaluating longer-term solutions to ensure the issue cannot recur in future". In May 2014, it was announced that a permanent awning would be installed on the south side of the higher floors of the tower...
[adapted and excerpted from Wikipedia]