Soon-to-be Skyscrapers That Will be Changing London – 1 Blackfriars

London is such a great city for people that love architecture. We have both old and new coming out of our ears. Turn one corner and you’re facing Leadenhall Market, another and you’re opposite The Gherkin. Like it’s people, London’s architecture is utterly diverse. It’s about to get a lot more modern though.

We’re here to give you an insight into what’s coming to our doorstep – the soon-to-be skyscrapers of Old London Town. We’re starting slap-bang in the centre with 1 Blackfriars, set to change the face of the Thames’ south side.

The Dimensions

If 163m high means little to you, it’s big. Not Shard-sized, but it sticks out like a sore thumb next to the tiny OXO tower. 1 Blackfriars looms way above 2015’s South Bank Tower, and makes the London Eye look like a fete Ferris wheel. That’s at its reduced height – the original plans proposed 225 metres.

The Gherkin is higher, but it’s one of many in the Leadenhall area. In Southwark, 1 Blackfriars packs a serious skyline punch.

The Look

Describing the design in a way Londoners will understand is difficult, because it looks like no food on earth. It’s more coffin-shaped than anything else, though nicknames like ‘vase’ and ‘boomerang’ have been put forward. Both are being very kind: it’s definitely a coffin. A very modern, all glass coffin mind you.

It has more glass panels than the Louvre, which I’m sure the French are happy about. It’s so glassy that in many of the projected images, it seems to have reached Harry Potter levels of invisibility. It apparently reflects the perfectly blue London skies (ha!) back at you, blending in easily. Yeah…

 

The Use

Controversial as ever. 1 Blackfriars will house some of London’s most unaffordable luxury suites, starting at £1.15million for a one bedroom apartment.  Southwark’s affordable housing plans mean that any new developments must have affordable housing, provider off site, or make a payment in lieu of doing anything to help priced-out residents.  Of course 1B decided to pay up rather than invite the poor people in. Might sound harsh, but it’s totally fair once you hear about their ad campaign.

Hoping to reel in the biggest foreign financial fish, it was modelled on Fifty Shades. A couple arrived by helicopter into the city, looked at models of the building before being driven by their butler in a Bentley to the real deal. The ad was so bad that it was immediately pulled, with only screen shots and gifs left to posterity.

 

The Verdict

London’s rise upward is inevitable, so we have to accept it with good grace. The design isn’t Marmitey, more monotony. It’s glass, it’s an odd shape. It’s basically every new building from here on out. What isn’t great is the function. London is one of the biggest cities on earth for business and we accept that. Building office skyscrapers is all part and parcel of that accolade. But swanky new studios for the elite to likely holiday in? Looks like Sadiq’s affordable London housing for Londoners will have to wait.

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