Watermark Place | City of London | 42m | 10 fl

[jimbo]

Mondial House from the top of 51 Lime Street. It appears to be wrapped like a wedding cake. The more I look at it, the more I think what on earth possessed someone to design what appears to be the architectural equivalent of a BBC B computer.

[wjfox]

The building next door but one, right next to London Bridge, is also covered in scaffolding and looks like it's being cleaned up. This is a pic from earlier this year -

[Paul2006]

That's Fishmonger's Hall, completed 1834.
Lovely building, its always looked pretty clean to me. I can think of other buildings that need more of a spruce up, but hey, I guess there's nothing wrong with a bit of TLC!

[wjfox]

Unilever House at Blackfriars Bridge is also undergoing renovation work - lovely old art deco building. Does anyone have any recent pics?

[london lad]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

Unilever House at Blackfriars Bridge is also undergoing renovation work - lovely old art deco building. Does anyone have any recent pics?

I went ther on the last Openhouse- Highly recommended if its open this year. Although it looks like they haven't done much as the facade hasn't been covered or altered but they have totally gutted most of the building & there was a massive hole 20m deep last time I was there. The interesting thing was they kept most of the mezzaine, staircase, orginal ceilings etc & even some of the original girders as they were all listed but the rest was ripped out. They planned to build a massive atrium with suspened walkways in a KPF (or couldve been SOM) designed scheme. Would love to see how it has progressed.

[potto]

they removed the large statues that adorned the roof top

[SE9]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

Unilever House at Blackfriars Bridge is also undergoing renovation work - lovely old art deco building. Does anyone have any recent pics?

This (not mine) is from June:

[wjfox]

Thanks

I absolutely love that building. That's the kind of thing which should be built all along the North Bank.

[JDRS]

Stunning building!

[delores]

i agree more of this style of building is whats needed along the north bank unfortunately its not fashionable anymore.

[london lad]

Originally Posted by potto

they removed the large statues that adorned the roof top

They mentioned this as well. Those statutes were not part of the original design & were added sometime later ( cant remember when). They are actually made of plastercast & not marble & are now in some Uni in Birmingham.

[Varenukha]

Originally Posted by wjfox2002

Thanks

I absolutely love that building. That's the kind of thing which should be built all along the North Bank.

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This building is beautiful, a pleasure to look at, an uplifting part of London and - best of all - its by the river. It has a power and gravitas that entirely suits London: not an adorned and fragile beauty, but a solid and down-to-earth handsomeness. Today's equivalent, in my view, is 122 Leadenhall. High quality, thoughful architecture, with a beauty that comes as much from its functionalism as from its design.

[wjfox]

Quite substantial progress is being made on this. There's a gaping hole in the southeastern corner of the building now.

[Cabman]

As good a building as this is it could do with being 2 storeys shorter as it does infringe a little too much into the sightline of St Pauls from Waterloo as does the welcome building on Queen Vic St.

Some people are never happy eh?

[wjfox]

[DarJoLe]

As much as I'm kind of a bit awww about it going, I can't wait to see this plot of land with nothing on it. It's tiny, but it will give us a real sense of what the riverbank would look like without any developments along it.

[DarJoLe]

Here's the model shot. Also shows Cannon Street station redevelopment and Walbrook. Overdevelopment you could say.

[potto]

bugger so that Cannon Street redevelopment is just the very front building! The 80s shite on top of the station was a direct cause of the Citys panic over Canary Wharf, sigh

[JGG]

All the trees in front of Watermark palce have gone and it looks as if it will encrouch much more on the embankment than the current building (just compare to the Dresdner Kleinworth building). I thought the plan of the City was to broaden the walkway along the Thames, not to narrow it. This model cannot be right.

[potto]

oh yeah good spot