London Skybar

[rjgibb]

Originally Posted by Octoman

I thought Ruth Kelly rejected the redevopment plans and since then they have been sitting in limbo? Its certainly a sorry state of affairs around there. Farringdon road is a souless miserable place with almost no architectural merit. Personally I would rather see that thoroughly redeveloped incorporating Smithfield Market into a public scheme similar to Covent Garden. Instead we have the current situation where one of the remaining bits of character is under threat and the endlessly tedious buildings around it untouched.

Developers seem more interested in pulling down historic facades on Picadilly, Leadenhall, Knightsbridge, Tottenham Court Road ....

I would dearly love a joined-up bit of redevelopment in that area. From Barbican and Charterhouse Square (around the new Crossrail station) all the way down to Farringdon and pulling in the empty soulless concrete boxes on New Bridge Street. If they could do something a little like Spitalfields but with less corporate and more independent outlets it would be great. If Rees is serious about reinvigorating the City as a weekend destination then the big bucks commercial retail of Cheapside (1 New Change et al) could sit nicely alongside the more creative and dynamic environment of Farringdon/Clerkenwell. It's already like that in some places but taking a leap of faith and offering lower rents for smaller units in the restored market buildings, you could get a great mix. And it's only a short hop for the new residents of the Heron building at Milton Court and the tourists at St Pauls.

I'd much rather this project got attention and funding than another speculative office block around Liverpool Street or Fenchurch Street.

[BorderBoy]

I'm curious - a friend tells me that Ropemaker and Gherkin still have much of their space un-let. Can anyone clarify? If this is true why is there so much talk of a shortage of office space in London?

[connorwilliams]

Originally Posted by BorderBoy

I'm curious - a friend tells me that Ropemaker and Gherkin still have much of their space un-let. Can anyone clarify? If this is true why is there so much talk of a shortage of office space in London?

Well, Ropemaker's website says 92% full.

[BorderBoy]

Yea ... and Gherkin looks pretty full as well. Don't know where these rumours come from.

[rjgibb]

Interesting article (and radio piece) on how architecture can improve health (or at least well-being), taking cues from NY and London:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tt64v (UK only for radio broadcast)

[Octoman]

Some drunken cretin drop kicked a kebab down my train carriage last night covering about 20 people in donner meat - thankfully not me.

I hate it when that happens.

[Ciudad Bristol]

Fucking anti social twats. I bet no one said anything?

[El_Greco]

Octoman called him out.

[the spliff fairy]

Utter fucking transport chaos today. Took my mum and sister out (who's disabled), out of all 1, 2, and 3 places we planned to go we ended up in transport nightmares, and cancelling due to the weekend engineering work, that has gone on for year after year, instead of just closing down a small section of line for a couple of weeks. Everywhere was jam packed like rush hour due to the closures. The Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, and Circle lines we needed were all closed.

2. Decided to go home, deflated and frustrated, having spent hours on the transport system staring at the inside of carriages - then got stuck on the Jubilee Line, with severe delays due to a 'faulty train' at Stratford.

3. Our other option, to go to Bank and catch the DLR was scuppered due to Bank station closing for another routine 'passenger action'.

4. From London Bridge it took 15 minutes for the train to arrive -the platform got unbelievably crowded, and the train that arrived was, of course, too. We fought our way on, only to stay wedged like that for the next 1hr and 20 minutes - to go 3 stops in intense heat. There was a problem with the doors at every station, coz we were now another defective train.

5. Finally at North Greenwich we walked to the correct escalator to find it was closed - the stairs is not an option with my sister. There was a big queue for the one lift. So we walked the entire length of the station (the longest on the network I may add), take that escalator, then up top walk all the way back the way we had come. The escalator in question has been under repair for weeks and Ive never seen anyone working on it.

6. Found out we had all been double charged, not just once but twice, due to our lengthy vacation time spent on the network.

7. Every ticket office window (all 4) were closed despite the time, the crowds and the fact they were MEANT to be open. All the workers were at the barriers chatting. When approached they flat refused to serve us.

"Is anyone at the ticket offices?"

"can't you see their closed"'

"Yes that's why we're talking to you".

"Not my problem."

"What about him, and him, your other 3 colleagues youre chatting to?"

"They're on their break".

Every time we said something he looked away and got back to his colleagues, before we got his attention again. AAAAARGH!!!!! Never again. Stormed off while they carried on chatting.

8. Came home, our last option, to go to Silvertown's Chinese warehouse and do some shopping instead of our cancelled dinner tonight, was scuppered - we had missed it due to the time spent trying to get home.

[Marathaman]

^That reminds me of Indian government employees almost everywhere, down to the last humble peon

[the spliff fairy]

Its amazing such an experience can change your outlook on the city. I swear to God want to move out of here now, it's been 10 years but this was the last straw really. The whole city - business, finance, investment, tourism, entertainment, shopping, reputation is held ransome by the transport network, and its corrupt, and rotten to the core.

You won't believe what one of my friends who works at Canada Water tells me, the stuff they get away with.


Just looked at tfl and now found out not only was there our defective train at Stratford, but an earlier one too at West Hampstead, and Jubilee is still suffering delays 5 hours later. Also Bank has reopened, but the Central Line is now suffering 'severe delays' thanks to someone running on the track.


mark my words, the Olympics is going to be a fiasco.

[connorwilliams]

If there was one place to build a cluster in London which would look good, not destroy historic areas worth preserving, not disrupt important views, not be smashed by nimbys and attract businesses... where would it be?

Wembley? Imagine a La Defense/Frankfurt/Moscow-Business-Centre style skyline with the 'arch' being Wembley Stadium. It will have a nightlife/daylife as well and not be windswept (like La Defense) due to the arena, hotels and stadium there. It has good rail connections (Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park, Wembley Central, North Wembley, Neasden), road connections (North Circular Road, A40, M1, M4) and has acres of brownfield land ripe for development.

BTW: Does anyone read this forum? And should something like this be posted here or somewhere else?

[FutureImperfect]

Originally Posted by the spliff fairy

Its amazing such an experience can change your outlook on the city. I swear to God want to move out of here now, it's been 10 years but this was the last straw really. The whole city - business, finance, investment, tourism, entertainment, shopping, reputation is held ransome by the transport network, and its corrupt, and rotten to the core.

You won't believe what one of my friends who works at Canada Water tells me, the stuff they get away with.


Just looked at tfl and now found out not only was there our defective train at Stratford, but an earlier one too at West Hampstead, and Jubilee is still suffering delays 5 hours later. Also Bank has reopened, but the Central Line is now suffering 'severe delays' thanks to someone running on the track.


mark my words, the Olympics is going to be a fiasco.

Repeat after me, "All is calm, all is calm, babbling brook, babbling brook, birds singing in trees, birds singing in trees...."

[the spliff fairy]

Nah, I want blood. Shoot some fucking birds.

[rjgibb]

Originally Posted by connorwilliams

If there was one place to build a cluster in London which would look good, not destroy historic areas worth preserving, not disrupt important views, not be smashed by nimbys and attract businesses... where would it be?

Wembley? Imagine a La Defense/Frankfurt/Moscow-Business-Centre style skyline with the 'arch' being Wembley Stadium. It will have a nightlife/daylife as well and not be windswept (like La Defense) due to the arena, hotels and stadium there. It has good rail connections (Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park, Wembley Central, North Wembley, Neasden), road connections (North Circular Road, A40, M1, M4) and has acres of brownfield land ripe for development.

BTW: Does anyone read this forum? And should something like this be posted here or somewhere else?

There will be nimbys everywhere, and certainly in West London - you only have to look at the un-warranted hysteria about HS2 developments. No-one wants major works in their backyard and you can bet folk on Harrow Hill and out into deepest Middlesex/Hertfordshire/Bucks would take issue with looming towers - regardless of how pretty (or far away) they might be.

Granted, the between-the-wars and post-war architecture in NW London won't get too may people misty-eyed but, again, I'd bet protest/conservation groups would form.

Finally, I'm not sure it's going to attract a whole heap of commuters. The financial services, legal and blue chips won't move out there - not with the City and Canary Wharf and their established commuting patterns and transport links from the southern and eastern home counties. Realistically, the only industry you might attract with any kind of serious headcount demand is an extension of the Thames Valley pharmaceutical / telecomms giants. At the moment there's plenty of scope for relatively low-rise development along the A4/M4 corridor without having to resort to clusters in Wembley.

Maybe it's a vision for a post-2050 vision of a bursting megalopolis but certainly not for another few years yet.

[golddex]

Originally Posted by the spliff fairy

Nah, I want blood. Shoot some fucking birds.

Spliff I would complain to TFL. I would have been pissed off too, but one step to feeling better is doing something about it - you'd be surprised what action is taken. Worth a try:

https://custserv.tfl.gov.uk/icss_csi...0000002%23Z020

[cpwken]

Does anybody know what the giant image on the front of Seacontainers House is about?

Sorry, I haven't got a photo of it, but it looks like the building is being turned into a giant billboard.

[pricemazda]

Originally Posted by Octoman

Some drunken cretin drop kicked a kebab down my train carriage last night covering about 20 people in donner meat - thankfully not me.

I hate it when that happens.

Obviously, if i was on the carriage I wouldn't have appreciated it. But reading it, it sounds quite funny. Sorry.

[Octoman]

I did smell quite nice. I'm still quite partial to a donner kebab from time to time.

Nobody did anything. But then he did it just before the train doors closed and jumped off.

[El_Greco]

^ Continuing on the theme - I was on a bus in East London today and a bunch of kids aged about 10 -12 and who had this distinct inbred look boarded the bus. Then, not surprisingly perhaps, the shitheads started yelling, screaming, throwing abuse at passengers kicking sides of the bus and windows, and generally acting like feral animals. The language used was incredibly foul, infact not even a sailor of old could have topped that. The bus stopped at the next stop and the driver told them to get off, they did, however they were far from being done. They then started throwing stones and anything they could find at the bus. Driver ignored all this got back to his seat and the moment he started the engine the kids used the button on the outside to open the doors jumped inside and continued with the abuse this time aimed solely at the driver. The driver lost it, quit his cab and started chasing after them. He didnt catch them, obviously, but the thing is, though that throughout this whole sorry saga none of the passengers said a thing to these inbred fuckfaces, infact they looked terrified. A bunch of adults afraid of 10 year olds?