# what is london's worst building?



## Pickman's model (Mar 22, 2005)

according to a time out poll, these are london's ten worst buildings:





> 1. Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre (The Willett Group, 1965)
> 2. Tower Thistle Hotel (Renton Howard Wood Partnership, 1973)
> 3. Centre Point (Richard Seifert, 1967)
> 4. Buckingham Palace (John Nash, 1830; Edward Blore, 1847; Sir Aston Webb, 1914)
> ...


http://www.thisislondon.com/londoncuts/articles/17410998?source=Evening Standard

which one d'you think's worst?


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## ernestolynch (Mar 22, 2005)




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## proeuro (Mar 22, 2005)

Can anyone suggest a viable, architectural reason as to why Buckingham Palace is so bad?

I think the vote (in Time Out) has been swayed by the republican feeling.  It's a shame because there could have been a real vote that would ensure certain eyesores are finally torn down.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2005)

Not keen on Heffalump & Castle but Key Bridge House in Vauxhall offends me each time I walk past it.


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## proeuro (Mar 22, 2005)

ernestolynch said:
			
		

> building image



What. The. Fuck. Is. That!


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## Pickman's model (Mar 22, 2005)

proeuro said:
			
		

> Can anyone suggest a viable, architectural reason as to why Buckingham Palace is so bad?
> 
> I think the vote (in Time Out) has been swayed by the republican feeling.  It's a shame because there could have been a real vote that would ensure certain eyesores are finally torn down.


tearing down buckingham palace would be a good start...

preferably with the windsor klan inside.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2005)

proeuro said:
			
		

> Can anyone suggest a viable, architectural reason as to why Buckingham Palace is so bad?
> 
> I think the vote (in Time Out) has been swayed by the republican feeling.  It's a shame because there could have been a real vote that would ensure certain eyesores are finally torn down.


It's just too drab and not impressive enough given its location - it just brings the entire area down - looking down the Mall towards that monstrosity is very disheartening - imagine how good a truly magnificent builiding would look in that prime spot.


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## innit (Mar 22, 2005)

although I don't think that picture really does it's ming-ness justice.


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## kea (Mar 22, 2005)

judging solely on my particular bugbear, pedestrian-friendly-ness, it has to be the barbican.


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## Lollybelle (Mar 22, 2005)

The Brunswick centre, definitely.  It's ugly and depressing and completely out of character for the area.  Although one good thing is that its so minging no chain shops want to move in there.


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## lang rabbie (Mar 22, 2005)

proeuro said:
			
		

> What. The. ****. Is. That!


St Helier Hospital


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## flimsier (Mar 22, 2005)

I quite like the Brunswick Centre. Used to spend hours hassling shoppers outside Safeway to buy _Socialist Worker_. I think the reason people hate it is because it's a council estate.

I think E&C shopping centre is far worse.


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## proeuro (Mar 22, 2005)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> St Helier Hospital



Ah.  Or rather, eurgh!


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## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2005)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> St Helier Hospital



In London?


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## sleaterkinney (Mar 22, 2005)

I had to google to find out what No 1 Poultry is...






Hmmmmm


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## bluestreak (Mar 22, 2005)

i think centrepoint is pretty fucking vile.  i don't mind buck house architecturally, its what it represents that offends me.  personally i'd have it turned into retirement flats.

what london needs is more gothic towerblocks.


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## lang rabbie (Mar 22, 2005)

proeuro said:
			
		

> Can anyone suggest a viable, architectural reason as to why Buckingham Palace is so bad?
> 
> I think the vote (in Time Out) has been swayed by the republican feeling.  It's a shame because there could have been a real vote that would ensure certain eyesores are finally torn down.


It's certainly not one of the ugliest.   The front from the Mall is phenomenally bland, but quite cleverly disguises the fact that it is a refacing of a really ugly block that was thrown up in the 1840s to house Queen Victoria's ever expanding brood.   The rest of the building (designed by Nash) is worth keeping as a People's Museum come the revolution.  

The Portland Stone front is actually one of the earliest examples of pre-fabricated construction - put up one summer while George V was off shooting!   


> By the turn of the century the soft French stone used in Blore's East Front was showing signs of deterioration, largely due to London's notorious soot, and required replacing. In 1913 the decision was taken to reface the façade. Sir Aston Webb, with a number of large public buildings to his credit, was commissioned to create a new design. Webb chose Portland Stone, which took 12 months to prepare before building work could begin. When work did start it took 13 weeks to complete the refacing, a process that included removing the old stonework.


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## ernestolynch (Mar 22, 2005)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> In London?



No, in Cairo.


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## lang rabbie (Mar 22, 2005)

No. 1 Poultry

By the time he designed this, IMO Jim Stirling was clearly losing it.  There is no subtlety at all, and the facades look like a kid's set of building blocks.    

Don't forget they demolished Mappin and Webb building to construct it - one of the best Victorian examples of "how to turn a corner with style".

The only decent feature is the views from the roof garden, although I think typical City security may now restrict access to customers of the pricy Conran restaurant.

For another view... see here


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## boing! (Mar 22, 2005)

Im not sure what some of those building look like, but I'v been past No1 Poultry many times not knowing what it is but thinking it looks like it was made out of childrens building blocks. What was going on in the mind of that architect?!? 
Not sure if it beats elephant and castles shopping centre though.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2005)

ernestolynch said:
			
		

> No, in Cairo.


Not Jersey then?


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## Poi E (Mar 22, 2005)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> No. 1 Poultry
> 
> By the time he designed this, IMO Jim Stirling was clearly losing it.  There is no subtlety at all, and the facades look like a kid's set of building blocks.
> 
> ...



Just looked at some pics of the original building.  Oh my god, someone needs to be shot for what happened there.


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## Sigmund Fraud (Mar 22, 2005)

Was going to nominate the British library in St Pancras but I'm now swaying towards no.1 Poultry.  I go past it 3 days a week but until seeing that photo on this thread I didn't realise what a minger it is.


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## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2005)

I actually like Centrepoint - am I the only one?
Makes an excellent homing beacon for those north of the river, by all accounts.


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## Poi E (Mar 22, 2005)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> I actually like Centrepoint - am I the only one?
> Makes an excellent homing beacon for those north of the river, by all accounts.



I like it too. Very distinctive.


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## Cloo (Mar 22, 2005)

I hate Portcullis House - an opportunity wasted. It's just so mediocre, such a cop-out of a building. 

Buck Palace is pretty shite - I don't think that's to do with 'republican feeling' so much as it's a dull, oversized lump.


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## onemonkey (Mar 22, 2005)

Cloo said:
			
		

> I hate Portcullis House - an opportunity wasted. It's just so mediocre, such a cop-out of a building.


and at absolutely scandalous expense.. 


which reminds me, I guess the millennium tent isn't really a building.. 


incidently, just got back from Paris, we were staying in a hotel next to the Opera Garnier, walked past the renovated Louvre, it reminds you how feeble our public buildings are..  (we managed to avoid the new bibtech f. mitterand and lets not mention the Opera at La Bastille)

if you want superb modern buildings go to Berlin


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## proeuro (Mar 22, 2005)

onemonkey said:
			
		

> incidently, just got back from Paris, we were staying in a hotel next to the Opera Garnier, walked past the renovated Louvre, it reminds you how feeble our public buildings are



Tower Bridge - Tower of London - Buckingham Palace (okay, just me it seems) - Vauxhall Cross (ditto) - National Gallery - Tate Modern - London Eye - Houses of Parliament - Swiss Re Gherkin - Nelson's Column - Marble Arch - City Hall - St. Paul's Cathedral - BBC Broadcasting House (NOT Television Centre!) - Victoria & Albert Museum - Natural History Museum...

Come on, the Olympics should be in our pocket on the basis of London's architectural wonders alone.

And I for one liked the idea of the Millennium Dome if only politicians hadn't hijacked the whole thing to be a corporate publicity stunt - amazing, something good done by Heseltine, but unsuprisingly ruined by New Labour!


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## Orang Utan (Mar 22, 2005)

What's Vauxhall Cross? Is that the Raelian escape ramp thingy that's the new bus interchange?


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## Phototropic (Mar 22, 2005)

Elephant and Castle is godawful. So disjointed with all those big roads and that grim shopping centre.

I have voted for Centre Point just because I have seen it so often when I was going to gigs and I hate it. 

And as for Buckingham Palace, poltics aside, it really is just a bland ungly building. A really lame attepmt and neo-classical(?) style. There are much better examples than that shit thing. 






I mean look at this pic. Where is the excitment in it?


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## Phototropic (Mar 22, 2005)

proeuro said:
			
		

> Nelson's Column



The IRA had the right idea with the one in Dublin. It's a pillac on a pillar! WHat do you like about it out of interest?


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## proeuro (Mar 22, 2005)

Phototropic said:
			
		

> The IRA had the right idea with the one in Dublin. It's a pillock on a pillar! WHat do you like about it out of interest?



It's grand and impressive monument to one of Britain's finest admirals.  It looks good, it's got a touch of class and it puts someone on a pedestal who deserves to be there.  Typically British though, giving someone who happily killed plenty of Johnny Foreigners a huge monument in the capital...

However, it's not half as good as the Monument de Colon (Columbus Monument) in Barcelona because you can actually go up in it in a lift and see the city from there.


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## Jenerys (Mar 22, 2005)

Blimey, doesnt this question come up a lot

Its the Seagram building....bleurch


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## lang rabbie (Mar 22, 2005)

Phototropic said:
			
		

> The IRA had the right idea with the one in Dublin. It's a pillac on a pillar! WHat do you like about it out of interest?



It is ill-proportioned, certainly buggers up Barry's original plans for the layout of the square, and the sculpture of Nelson is fairly risible...

BUT... to anyone with more than a one dimensional view of history, it remains a tangible reminder of what the debate is about the nature of heroism/victory/patriotism.    

It allows you to actually engage children/ students in a debate about the nature of war and empire, not to mention the appropriation, through all ages since Pericles ran Athens, of classical architecture to celebrate victory as defined by those in power.

And the Landseer lion sculptures are cool - whether you are 5 or 50!


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## golightly (Mar 22, 2005)

A contender surely.


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## Mrs Magpie (Mar 22, 2005)

What's that awful place in Croydon (begins with a B?) that loses refugees paperwork?...I know what goes on in there is grim, so I reckon the architecture is too...


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## DJWrongspeed (Mar 22, 2005)

i voted the thistle tower hotel,  i think there was an idea a few mths back for tax incentives to demolish black listed buildings, this one was in the line of fire.

As for centre point, the actual tower is OK but the surrounding base design is terrible.  Working round there u don't really have to look at it anyway given the design of the streets.

There are some absolute disasters east of liverpool st. station, the city of london, all the money all that shit?


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## ernestolynch (Mar 22, 2005)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> Not Jersey then?



Oh right I see, 'twas your attempt at Geography humour!

3/10
See me.


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## golightly (Mar 22, 2005)

Mrs Magpie said:
			
		

> What's that awful place in Croydon (begins with a B?) that loses refugees paperwork?...I know what goes on in there is grim, so I reckon the architecture is too...




Do you mean Lunar House?  I know it doesn't begin with a B but it does lose passports and the like.


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## lang rabbie (Mar 23, 2005)

golightly said:
			
		

> Do you mean Lunar House?  I know it doesn't begin with a B but it does lose passports and the like.








It has a smaller twin, on the other side of the next road.  Before the Home Office finally did something to improve the reception area in the mid-1990s they both had strangely kitsch lobbies reminiscent of hotels in the Soviet Union.


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## Zappomatic (Mar 26, 2005)

innit said:
			
		

> although I don't think that picture really does it's ming-ness justice.



Ahh 1 London Bridge! Who on earth desgined the steps leading down to the river? Such an uncomfortable angle, I'm just glad I've never had to go down them whilest a bit drunk.


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## Dubversion (Jul 31, 2007)

*Ugliest Building In London.*

i'd like to nominate that fucking HORROR that runs down the east side of Farringdon, from the station up towards Rosebery Avenue. What a disgusting lump of filth that is, can't believe I've never noticed it before. On a nice sunny day like this, it's a blight on the whole street (which is hardly Shangri La anyway)

what's yours?


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2007)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i'd like to nominate that fucking HORROR that runs down the east side of Farringdon, from the station up towards Rosebery Avenue. What a disgusting lump of filth that is, can't believe I've never noticed it before. On a nice sunny day like this, it's a blight on the whole street (which is hardly Shangri La anyway)
> 
> what's yours?




Well the one on the roundabout near Westminster Bridge has now been demolished so that's my favourite out the window.

All of Elephant


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## zenie (Jul 31, 2007)

Minnie_the_Minx said:
			
		

> All of Elephant



No!!!   

Catford Shopping Centre is pretty fuckin dire


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## littlebabyjesus (Jul 31, 2007)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i'd like to nominate that fucking HORROR that runs down the east side of Farringdon, from the station up towards Rosebery Avenue. What a disgusting lump of filth that is, can't believe I've never noticed it before. On a nice sunny day like this, it's a blight on the whole street (which is hardly Shangri La anyway)
> 
> what's yours?


Yep, that's pretty vile. 

In a similar vein, there's the building that looks like a multi-storey car park, right on the bank of the Thames on the north side just to the west of the wobble-free bridge.



Oh... and St Paul's Cathedral, ergh.


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## littlebabyjesus (Jul 31, 2007)

zenie said:
			
		

> No!!!
> 
> Catford Shopping Centre is pretty fuckin dire


But it's got a big black cat on it


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2007)

zenie said:
			
		

> No!!!
> 
> Catford Shopping Centre is pretty fuckin dire




Why not?  It's shit.  In fact, I think I'd prefer Elephant shopping centre if they painted it khaki green again


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## Dubversion (Jul 31, 2007)

was it green? only remember pink then red.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2007)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> was it green? only remember pink then red.




Yes, many years ago it used to be khaki














Unless I dreamt that but I'm sure I didn't


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## spanglechick (Jul 31, 2007)

the institute of education






this is the only pic i can find, which has been taken from the only angle fom whic it looks pleasant.  if you look at it from one of the sides, rather than a corner - it's brutal and bleak.  Just what you want on russell square.


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## HackneyE9 (Jul 31, 2007)

The Institute of Education is a civilised icon, by Denis Lasdun. It's absolutley beautiful. Why not try picking a real monstrosity, like all the shit that's just gone up alongside St Pauls? Or any of the bog-standard pre-fab 'made of marble so it must be classy' Canary Wharf office blocks


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## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

That enormous green glass monster by vauxhall.


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## zenie (Jul 31, 2007)

littlebabyjesus said:
			
		

> But it's got a big black cat on it



Exactly!!   

Centrepoint Tower's pretty horrible too.


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## Biddlybee (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> That enormous green glass monster by vauxhall.


Which one? They seem to be breeding!


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## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

Centrepoint above ground floor is quite striking I think. But the way it treats the street is just, well, perverse. So wrong. Luckily they're gonna get rid of the fountains and make a new plaza when they build crossrail.


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## deese_nuts (Jul 31, 2007)

"The Tower" in Colliers Wood.


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## maximilian ping (Jul 31, 2007)

Minnie_the_Minx said:
			
		

> All of Elephant



yes, that gets my vote. total bunghole architecture


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## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

BiddlyBee said:
			
		

> Which one? They seem to be breeding!


The one with batwings on the roof.

The whole thing is badly proportioned, badly detailed and out of scale and character. It looks shit and it's new. Christ, when it gets older, a bit broken and dirty - yuck!


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## Kanda (Jul 31, 2007)

Ah, the one opposite MI6 Crispy?


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## Treebeak (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> That enormous green glass monster by vauxhall.



I really really hope you dont mean the MI6 building


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> That enormous green glass monster by vauxhall.




St George's Wharf or MI6?


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## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

The new one.
Although MI6 isn't great, at least it's built well, with good detailing.


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## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2007)

St George's Wharf definitely I reckon







Absolute monstrosity. Luckily it's only rich people that live there. Obviously have no taste


Can't believe how crap it looks and the poor residents who think they're being trendy and cool are probably going to be totally horrified in a few years when it finally dawns on them just how ugly it is


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## Treebeak (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> The new one.
> Although MI6 isn't great, at least it's built well, with good detailing.



MI6 is my fav building.... the symmetry when looking at it from the north bank is


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## Kanda (Jul 31, 2007)

Tower Hotel


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## Treebeak (Jul 31, 2007)

The Hayward Gallery... how it represents the beautiful art inside I just dont know..


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## spanglechick (Jul 31, 2007)

HackneyE9 said:
			
		

> The Institute of Education is a civilised icon, by Denis Lasdun. It's absolutley beautiful. Why not try picking a real monstrosity, like all the shit that's just gone up alongside St Pauls? Or any of the bog-standard pre-fab 'made of marble so it must be classy' Canary Wharf office blocks


Have you ever had to walk into it, day after day?  it's a building that tries really hard to stop light getting in - even though the windows.  I like the hayward gallery and national theatre - it isn't the style of architecture i object to - it's just a fucking depressing building to walk into (it's those upward sloping lips of concrete at ground level that i particularly hate).


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## gaijingirl (Jul 31, 2007)

It's not the best, but it's not actually _on_ Russell Square either.  I overlook it from the SOAS library and have used the library there on occasion for teaching stuff.


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## spanglechick (Jul 31, 2007)

gaijingirl said:
			
		

> It's not the best, but it's not actually _on_ Russell Square either.  I overlook it from the SOAS library and have used the library there on occasion for teaching stuff.


pedant


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## milesy (Jul 31, 2007)

Treebeak said:
			
		

>



the hayward gallery - and all of the south bank - is fucking ace


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## Firky (Jul 31, 2007)

That fucking thing in Morden. It could be Morden actually. Yeah, just flatted Morden to make sure of it.


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## gaijingirl (Jul 31, 2007)

spanglechick said:
			
		

> pedant



I'm getting in practice for full-on teacher mode..


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## christonabike (Jul 31, 2007)

Emirates Stadium

It's a shit-hole


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## Roadkill (Jul 31, 2007)

Senate House is pretty damned ugly:






Apparently, George Orwell had it in mind when he created the Ministries in 1984.  Some people still refer to it as the Ministry of Love...


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## Firky (Jul 31, 2007)

Morden Town Hall


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## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2007)

milesy said:
			
		

> the hayward gallery - and all of the south bank - is fucking ace


I agree - it's great.
My pet hate is the BT building in Vauxhall - Keybridge House


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## DeadManWalking (Jul 31, 2007)

Minnie_the_Minx said:
			
		

> St George's Wharf definitely I reckon
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's why Jay Kay lives there.  Mind you it will soon be dwarfed by tallest building in London which will also block their views down the river


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## Kanda (Jul 31, 2007)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> My pet hate is the BT building in Vauxhall - Keybridge House



Agreed, fucking hate that place. Mainly cos of having to actually work inside it and getting BT to do anyfuckjngthingatall done was a major pain in the arse.

One building thats contents really showed what a clusterfuck BT had become.


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## gaijingirl (Jul 31, 2007)

What I like about the South Bank is that it's constantly changing - one minute there'll be grass growing up a building, or Anthony Gormley statues - various projections, impromptu stages set up etc etc.  I go past it most days and always wonder what I'll see there next.


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## tarannau (Jul 31, 2007)

Ah Crown House Firky, the town hall/library/council offices. Worryingly it's probably not even the ugliest thing in Morden.

I actually used to run the social/working men's club in that monstrosity, hidden away on the 1st floor. Chas n Dave, Mike Read, some othe cockney wanker you've never heard of... we had all the stars there..


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## spanglechick (Jul 31, 2007)

Roadkill said:
			
		

> Senate House is pretty damned ugly:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i think that's rather lovely.


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## DeadManWalking (Jul 31, 2007)

Kanda said:
			
		

> Agreed, fucking hate that place. Mainly cos of having to actually work inside it and getting BT to do anyfuckjngthingatall done was a major pain in the arse.
> 
> One building thats contents really showed what a clusterfuck BT had become.



Lets just face it most of Vauxhall is ugly


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## Errol's son (Jul 31, 2007)

There is a flat above a Texaco petrol station on the Askew Road which I reckon is one of the most horrible flats in London.

As Minnie says, St George's Wharf is not nice nor are many of the flats built along the river recently. Around Wandsworth Bridge there are many bad newly built flats as well as overpriced and poorly refurbished former local authority flats.


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## Brainaddict (Jul 31, 2007)

I really don't find St Georges Wharf that bad. It probably won't age well (in the physical sense I mean, not the stylistic) but at the moment I think it looks fine


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## gaijingirl (Jul 31, 2007)

I like Senate House too - it's really impressive looking.


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## Errol's son (Jul 31, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> That's why Jay Kay lives there.  Mind you it will soon be dwarfed by tallest building in London which will also block their views down the river



John Major lives there too.


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## tarannau (Jul 31, 2007)

Brainaddict said:
			
		

> I really don't find St Georges Wharf that bad. It probably won't age well (in the physical sense I mean, not the stylistic) but at the moment I think it looks fine



It's horrible pomo crap. What are all those 'wings' meant to do, apart from look disturbingly look a giant pair of Dennis Healey eyebrows. 

It's just a nothing building. All that money for luxury apartments and they build the inoffensive housing equivalent of large grey Ford Mondeo.


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## Gromit (Jul 31, 2007)

Is that Lloyd's Building still there? The one that looks like a gas works?


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## Brainaddict (Jul 31, 2007)

tarannau said:
			
		

> It's horrible pomo crap. What are all those 'wings' meant to do, apart from look disturbingly look a giant pair of Dennis Healey eyebrows.
> 
> It's just a nothing building. All that money for luxury apartments and they build the inoffensive housing equivalent of large grey Ford Mondeo.


It's obviously offended *someone*  

I like pomo buildings  

And what do you mean what are the wings 'meant to do'? Should every part of a building be purely functional?


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## sleaterkinney (Jul 31, 2007)

Marius said:
			
		

> Is that Lloyd's Building still there? The one that looks like a gas works?


It's an oil rig and I really like it.


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## golightly (Jul 31, 2007)

Roadkill said:
			
		

> Senate House is pretty damned ugly:



Call that ugly?  Now this is ugly...


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## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2007)

That's Keybridge House isn't it?


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## tarannau (Jul 31, 2007)

Brainaddict said:
			
		

> It's obviously offended *someone*
> 
> I like pomo buildings
> 
> And what do you mean what are the wings 'meant to do'? Should every part of a building be purely functional?



No, but I do believe that form should follow function in some way. 

Pomo isn't all bad, but it's the sheer fence sitting nature of SGW that gets my goat. It tries to look like an unusual, thrusting skyscraper for the future, but ends up adding all those chintzy little touches and worthless frills that take away any sort of integrity. It's architectural pick and mix, with added eyebrow, sorry wing, motif to try and convince people that it's _designed_ in some way. Architecture without nuts.


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## Kanda (Jul 31, 2007)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> That's Keybridge House isn't it?



Yeah it is


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## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

Kanda said:
			
		

> Yeah it is


Sometimes when it catches the sun, it looks shit in a moody bladerunner kinda way.


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## Orang Utan (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> Sometimes when it catches the sun, it looks shit in a moody bladerunner kinda way.


I know what you mean - it looks like a giant bit of circuit board - is that what was intended you think?


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## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

Orang Utan said:
			
		

> I know what you mean - it looks like a giant bit of circuit board - is that what was intended you think?


Yeah, sort of a cross of commercial/industrial/military. It looks like it might lift off, or transform into a robot (both to be accompanied with lots of dust and smoke, like it's not reaaly done that for ages)


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## Firky (Jul 31, 2007)

tarannau said:
			
		

> Ah Crown House Firky, the town hall/library/council offices. Worryingly it's probably not even the ugliest thing in Morden.
> 
> I actually used to run the social/working men's club in that monstrosity, hidden away on the 1st floor. Chas n Dave, Mike Read, some othe cockney wanker you've never heard of... we had all the stars there..



St Heliers is a bit rough too


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## keicar (Jul 31, 2007)

Can't believe no-one has mentioned Euston


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## Dan U (Jul 31, 2007)

firky said:
			
		

> Morden Town Hall



Crown House i *think* it's called.

that and the horrible building in Colliers Wood are definitely contenders.




			
				firky said:
			
		

> St Heliers is a bit rough too



crap St Heliers fact. they built it the wrong way round! lolz!

also, the Homebase in Streatham Vale is the same, built the wrong way round.

fools!


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## trashpony (Jul 31, 2007)

littlebabyjesus said:
			
		

> Yep, that's pretty vile.
> 
> In a similar vein, there's the building that looks like a multi-storey car park, right on the bank of the Thames on the north side just to the west of the wobble-free bridge.



That's where I work  

But I concur - and it's just as ugly inside as out


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## Gavin Bl (Jul 31, 2007)

I'm not sure if I like the utter concrete brutalism of Guys Hospital, by London Bridge station.

But I agree with the previous poster - Canary Wharf, it all cost a fortune and is utterly graceless and inelegant. Just a giant box, yuk. Thank god for the Gherkin.


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## Chairman Meow (Jul 31, 2007)

I used to live in Morden AND work in St Helier hospital. Is it any wonder I ran away to Cork?


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## DJWrongspeed (Jul 31, 2007)

Treebeak said:
			
		

> The Hayward Gallery... how it represents the beautiful art inside I just dont know..



tear it all down, apart from the exterior shambles the spaces inside don't function properly for the 21st century arts,  gallery doesn't have proper storage, qeh hall is no good for amplified music, purcell room too small/wrong shape,  for that reason alone it should be ripped up.


----------



## lang rabbie (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> Sometimes when it catches the sun, it looks shit in a moody bladerunner kinda way.



Keybridge House has the distinct disadvantage of not having had any maintenance in the 29 years since it was finished.   In the mid-80s, when it was newish and the stainless steel was shiny, it looked quite funky to my younger self when seen from the railway tracks into Waterloo.  

But the way the lower floors completely ignore the surrounding streetscape of the South Lambeth Road is unforgiveable.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Jul 31, 2007)

lucky I don't know anyone that lives there


----------



## paolo (Jul 31, 2007)

MI6, wedding cake frippery.

Sea Containers House. Tacky gold embellishments all over the shop.

And of course, St George's wharf, horrible. On the upside, if you live there, you don't have to look at it.


----------



## Cid (Jul 31, 2007)

I'm with Paolo, and - as others have said - the whole of Elephant.


----------



## Brainaddict (Jul 31, 2007)

tarannau said:
			
		

> but ends up adding all those chintzy little touches and worthless frills that take away any sort of integrity. It's architectural pick and mix


Sounds like a good description of all the Victorian architecture in London that people love most


----------



## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

Nah, fiddly bits on a human scale is nice - it's been built by machine, but by people using machines to replicate handcraft. Modern mass production isn't a patch on it for artistic merit. And lots of modern 'designed' stuff often looks like the designer made on line on the computer and then couldn't be bothered to Undo. That why, IMO the best modern design is functional and without ornament. Ornamentation went crap about 80 years ago.

The really cheesy stuff like the albert memorial is pretty bad though.


----------



## Brainaddict (Jul 31, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> Nah, fiddly bits on a human scale is nice - it's been built by machine, but by people using machines to replicate handcraft.


But that's not the case with the butterfly wing roofs on St georges wharf, which is what he was whinging about. That's a use of modern technology to build a shape that distinguishes it from all the buildings around it - what's wrong with that?


----------



## Crispy (Jul 31, 2007)

Brainaddict said:
			
		

> But that's not the case with the butterfly wing roofs on St georges wharf, which is what he was whinging about. That's a use of modern technology to build a shape that distinguishes it from all the buildings around it - what's wrong with that?


Exactly the problem that I noted. It's been 'designed' by someone using the 'arc' tool in their CAD program. Not by knowing well which shapes work with others, what proportions are pleasing, how to direct the eye, or work with light or structure. Just 'swush' - we'll have that one. The whole building smacks of piecemeal, uncoordinated, profit-driven design.

Technology lets us draw much more quickly and get instant results - I really do believe that the shorter design process this affords means the designer's eye spends much less time refining the design or learning lessons.


----------



## T & P (Jul 31, 2007)

*Centre fucking Point*






Please take it down.


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 1, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> Technology lets us draw much more quickly and get instant results - I really do believe that the shorter design process this affords means the designer's eye spends much less time refining the design or learning lessons.



Crispy seen earlier today...







I do agree about St George's Wharf, but I was suddenly taken back to some of JR's most turbid prose when I read your post!


----------



## Crispy (Aug 1, 2007)

Yeah, pretty much 

When I build my house, I want it to have really good brickwork, with some proper loadbearing arches  - but you just can't get the fantastic range of bricks like you used to  - There's a really good pic of paulo999's that shows the full set of special bricks that go around the intrsection line of a cylinder with a larger cylinder. Great stuff


----------



## editor (Aug 1, 2007)

I could bore for Britain about the fucking shit standard of workmanship in most modern buildings, and the crap materials, the cheap build and the near certainty that unlike their Victorian predecessors they won't be around in 50 years.

*adjust soapbox

Moreover, it used to be that you could work out a building's function just by looking at it. Schools looked like, well, schools, and libraries, stations, shops and municipal buildings all had a form that followed their function and looked different to each other but still made a coherent whole.

And they used local materials, so that buildings blended in with the area and they were actually built to last.

Nowadays you can't tell the difference between a shopping mall, a distribution centre, a school and a Post Office apart from the fact that they almost always look shit.

And don't get me started on the current penchant for these stupid white plastic 'sails' that have become _de rigeur _in so many commercial developments. They look shit and won't last 5 minutes before they're filthy and fucked.

*gets off soapbox and goes for a lie down.


----------



## maldwyn (Aug 1, 2007)

No.1 Poultry, irritates the fuck out of me.


----------



## the button (Aug 1, 2007)

You'd think they could have afforded larger windows.

Also, on the subject of Senate House, I went to a public lecture there once where the lecturer began by telling us that Senate House was where Hitler wanted to have Nazi HQ after the invasion of Britain.


----------



## Kanda (Aug 1, 2007)

the button said:
			
		

> Also, on the subject of Senate House, I went to a public lecture there once where the lecturer began by telling us that Senate House was where Hitler wanted to have Nazi HQ after the invasion of Britain.



Pretty sure he said that about some building in Leeds...

In fact, I think loads of buildings claim he said that


----------



## Maggot (Aug 1, 2007)

deese_nuts said:
			
		

> "The Tower" in Colliers Wood.


 I agree. 

I'm just glad this building is tucked away in a part of SW London which I rarely visit. Although I actually worked as a security guard there when I was a student. If this was in central London it would get many more votes.


----------



## Maggot (Aug 1, 2007)

Kanda said:
			
		

> Pretty sure he said that about some building in Leeds...
> 
> In fact, I think loads of buildings claim he said that



There may be some truth in it:

From Wikipedia:





> During the 1930s Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, intended to house Parliament in the building in the event of his taking power. Hitler also intended it as his headquarters in London after the invasion of Britain - this may be truth or 'urban legend' . An alternate theory is that as the second tallest building in central London, after St. Paul's Cathedral, Senate House was spared by the Luftwaffe as it provided a useful landmark for pilots navigating their way to the East End during the Blitz.


----------



## behemoth (Aug 1, 2007)

Battersea Power Station.

Just flatten the eyesore and build something relevant, like affordable housing.


----------



## Maggot (Aug 1, 2007)

Battersea Power Station is one of the most beautiful buildings in London. Many tourists go to see the 'Pink Floyd Building'.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2007)

behemoth said:
			
		

> Battersea Power Station.
> 
> Just flatten the eyesore and build something relevant, like affordable housing.




That's one of London's landmarks    The skyline just wouldn't be the same without it.

It's a wonderful building.  Do you know how many bricks were used to build that?


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> Moreover, it used to be that you could work out a building's function just by looking at it. Schools looked like, well, schools, and libraries, stations, shops and municipal buildings all had a form that followed their function and looked different to each other but still made a coherent whole.




Yeah, now old schools are yuppy apartments, same as warehouses  

and banks are Witherspoons Pubs


----------



## Kanda (Aug 1, 2007)

I love Battersea Power Station too, can't have that one in here, no sorry, kkthx


----------



## corporate whore (Aug 1, 2007)

I'm with behemoth poster on Battersea. It's an anachronism, it's wasting away and it's sitting on land that could - in some planning utopia - be used for some much-needed social housing.

My vote for fugliest building goes to Samson House, on the South Bank

here

Looks like a prison. From space.


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 1, 2007)

I agree with Behemoth.

It's an ugly, derelict power station.

What's to love?


----------



## Kanda (Aug 1, 2007)

Wasn't the Tate an ugly, derelict power station?

The Battersea saga is a bit depressing though, fucking years stood there, finally get planning permission then the cunt sells it on... ffs


----------



## DeadManWalking (Aug 1, 2007)

The owners of Battersea have got permission to remove the chimneys which is a shame as I think that's what gives it charm, without them it could well be ugly.


----------



## Kanda (Aug 1, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> The owners of Battersea have got permission to remove the chimneys which is a shame as I think that's what gives it charm, without them it could well be ugly.



They're going back though aren't they? I thought they were being removed for renovation because they are deemed unsafe.


----------



## corporate whore (Aug 1, 2007)

Kanda said:
			
		

> They're going back though aren't they? I thought they were being removed for renovation because they are deemed unsafe.



Well, maybe. They're taking them all down first, though..


----------



## Crispy (Aug 1, 2007)

They've left it too long, from what I've read - the whole thing's about to fall down, so if it's going to survive as a landmark, it'll need near complete rebuilding. Seems a bit pointless to me.


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 1, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> And don't get me started on the current penchant for these stupid white plastic 'sails' that have become _de rigeur _in so many commercial developments. They look shit and won't last 5 minutes before they're filthy and fucked.


I agree with this. I hate it that lots of these architects don't seem to care what the building will look like in 5 years, let alone 50 - as long as it looks good now they don't care. It's condemning future generations to staring at filthy, ugly messes that they probably won't be able to afford to rebuild cos we'll be in the Great Global Post-peak-oil Depression


----------



## beeboo (Aug 1, 2007)

corporate whore said:
			
		

> My vote for fugliest building goes to Samson House, on the South Bank



Oh yes, that is hideous (altnough that photo is definitely casting it in a better light than usual).  I used to work next door to it, and it had absolutely no human dimension at all - I could never even work out where the entrance was.  I was convinced it wasn't an office building, but housed an enormous generator or something.  Frankly it gives me the creeps.


----------



## corporate whore (Aug 1, 2007)

Yeah, it's not designed for human interaction in any way - reflective windows, high walls. Think it used to be an IBM building, so it may just be full of servers or summat.


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 1, 2007)

Kanda said:
			
		

> Wasn't the Tate an ugly, derelict power station?



But at least they have done something with the Tate.

Battersea has been standing there decaying (and you should see it close up on a train from Victoria - it looks terrible) for 25 years.


----------



## Kanda (Aug 1, 2007)

PacificOcean said:
			
		

> But at least they have done something with the Tate.
> 
> Battersea has been standing there decaying (and you should see it close up on a train from Victoria - it looks terrible) for 25 years.



I used to live on Queenstown Road 

It's the developers fuck up and a waste of a great building imo..


----------



## Structaural (Aug 1, 2007)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i'd like to nominate that fucking HORROR that runs down the east side of Farringdon, from the station up towards Rosebery Avenue. What a disgusting lump of filth that is, can't believe I've never noticed it before. On a nice sunny day like this, it's a blight on the whole street (which is hardly Shangri La anyway)
> 
> what's yours?



I used to work opposite that monstrosity - Merryl Lynch or something, all the suits would come in in lemon yellow jumpers and chinos on dress down Friday...

I nominate Elephant and Castle shopping centre.


----------



## ska invita (Aug 1, 2007)

firky said:
			
		

> St Heliers is a bit rough too


That really is ugly *shudder.

My personal favourite ugly building is London College of Printers (now called London COllege of Communications)

Its a building as bad as that of the THe Tower - howver to see it in its glory you have ot go t oElephant and Castle roudabout and look for yourself.

This is the only picture I could find, and 10./10 to the photgrapher, who manages to make it look pretty cool! No mean fete. Trust , in the brick its drab as fuck.

THe thing is its so ugly that its kind of reassuring. THat St, Heliers one is just ugly.






This ones a bit closer to the truth, but a bit small:


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 1, 2007)

Another vote for the whole of Elephant & Castle.

I don't think there is a more decaying part of London.


----------



## HackneyE9 (Aug 1, 2007)

There's a bit of groupthink going on here - peeps are too concerned with finding a totemic, bold, preferably brutal and concrete landmark, when there are scores of more contemporary cheap and cheerless developers shitholes cropping up everywhere. 

Has nooone notice how almost all contemporary private housing is shoddier, smaller and with less natural light than even council housing from just 20 years ago? 

Cue what the editor was saying upthread. There were some standards for private housebuilding which ensured things like a porch or hall space big enough for a pram, minimum sizes for windows and heights for ceilings, called something like the Parker-Bowles Rules, which Thatcher scrapped in the mid-80s, reckoning the 'market' would sort it out.

Result: trillions of shoddy rabbit hutches.


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 1, 2007)

Hackney, the thread is about the ugliest buildings, not the worst-designed. The only groupthink is to actually answer the question raised by the person who posted the thread


----------



## beeboo (Aug 1, 2007)

Yup, most modern housing developments are evil evil things lacking any imagination, sense of place, individuality, soul...

But they're quite difficult to despise.  I think it's actually preferable for some buildings to provoke and extreme reaction, love-or-hate.  At least it engages, most of the modern identikit drudge completely fails to provoke any reaction at all.


----------



## Chz (Aug 1, 2007)

I think more in total areas, rather than individual buildings. There are only a few spots that are totally ruined by one inappropriate monstrousity.

Areas:
St. Helier (not just the hospital), heck the whole stretch from Morden to Sutton
Elephant
Canary Wharf - just a wasted potential to completely redevelop an area like that and just build plain, uninteresting tripe. It's not ugly, it's just uninspired and wasteful.

Inidividual buildings so awful they destroy an area:
Archway Tower
Castle Baynard (the one to the west of the wobbly bridge mentioned)
I hesitate to say the Colliers Wood tower, as the area's not all that to start with, but it's pretty awful. 
Tower Hotel
St. George's Wharf is like Colliers Wood - the area is awful to start with, but this just makes it worse

Mentioned, but I think they're great:
Senate House
Centrepoint (aside from at street level)
Battersea Power Station (assuming they preserve it properly)
South Bank


----------



## beeboo (Aug 1, 2007)

Chz - agree wholeheartedly.  

How could I forget the Archway Tower?  I did some work with local residents recently about what they felt about the area, and it's clear that tower and its surrounds have completely wrecked that area.


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 1, 2007)

Yes, I think the architects of the Archway Tower must have been suffering from brain damage


----------



## Skorch (Aug 1, 2007)

Roadkill said:
			
		

> Senate House is pretty damned ugly:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I love that art deco style tower.  It's the last era where they built nice looking buildings with a stone-like material.


----------



## Chz (Aug 1, 2007)

Oh, and I tend to forget about it because it's right outside my office window, but Guy's Hospital is pretty bad, too. It's not the concrete, it's that it's proportioned all wrong.

And to be honest, it's not the Archway Tower _itself_ that's so awful, it's the ancillary buildings, plaza, etc. around it.


----------



## paolo (Aug 1, 2007)

Chz said:
			
		

> Oh, and I tend to forget about it because it's right outside my office window, but Guy's Hospital is pretty bad, too. It's not the concrete, it's that it's proportioned all wrong.
> 
> And to be honest, it's not the Archway Tower _itself_ that's so awful, it's the ancillary buildings, plaza, etc. around it.



'tis the world's tallest hospital... and yup, it's ugly.


----------



## beeboo (Aug 1, 2007)

Chz said:
			
		

> And to be honest, it's not the Archway Tower itself that's so awful, it's the ancillary buildings, plaza, etc. around it.



In itself, the Tower isn't soooo awful, but it is totally in the wrong context - a bit like that tower in Collier's Wood.  

But it creates a 'wind tunnel' effect which makes the whole surrounding area really unpleasant, and blocks out the sun.

But agree that the bit under/round the tower is awful - I had to go round taking photos and it's one of the few areas of London I've ever felt really uncomfortable and unsafe in the middle of the day - it's all blind corners and almost completely unused and empty.  yuck.


----------



## paolo (Aug 1, 2007)

beeboo said:
			
		

> But it creates a 'wind tunnel' effect which makes the whole surrounding area really unpleasant.



I think that's a combined 'effort', with the PWC building over the road. The angle of that tower creates a funnel, and blimey yes - it can go mental for about 20m.

PWC should be coming down soon though.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 1, 2007)

What lunatic thought it a good idea to put a 10-12 storey blocks of flats slap bang in the middle of Crystal Palace Park - it just beggars belief.

I suppose you can add the whole friggin ex-National Sports Stadium as well; it's  Clockwork Orange achitecture but badly lit.

Drives me mental.


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 1, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> What lunatic thought it a good idea to put a 10-12 storey blocks of flats slap bang in the middle of Crystal Palace Park - it just beggars belief.
> 
> I suppose you can add the whole friggin ex-National Sports Stadium as well; it's  Clockwork Orange achitecture but badly lit.
> 
> Drives me mental.



Are they acutal flats?

I always assumed they were part of the stadium.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 1, 2007)

People def live there, a friend delivered something there albeit quite some time ago - they might work in the stadium, I don't know.


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 1, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> People def live there, a friend delivered something there albeit quite some time ago - they might work in the stadium, I don't know.



Even if they are part of the stadium, it must be wierd having to walk to the middle of a park to get home.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 1, 2007)

Nice views across sun-kissed Penge, though.


----------



## laptop (Aug 1, 2007)

How have you all managed to miss this:







...right next to John Prescott's pad?

E2A: Hackney's right - but it's harder to find pix of them online.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 1, 2007)

I read something about that not very long ago. The concrete is hundreds of feet thick or summat. Can only presume the reason it hasn't been pulled down is that it's still part of teh secret underground network 'round those parts.

But yep, def an unbelievable munter.


----------



## A Dashing Blade (Aug 1, 2007)

None of you are even close . . . just before St Pauls when you're walking up from Cheapside, by the tube entrance is that fucking awful 14 (?) sided 6ish storey shit-heap.


----------



## secretlondon (Aug 1, 2007)

corporate whore said:
			
		

> I'm with behemoth poster on Battersea. It's an anachronism, it's wasting away and it's sitting on land that could - in some planning utopia - be used for some much-needed social housing.
> 
> My vote for fugliest building goes to Samson House, on the South Bank
> 
> ...



I agree. It totally ruins the view from Falcon Point. 

It looks like a giant bunker with ugly ventilation. I normally like brutalist and modern architecture - but that just looks military.


----------



## secretlondon (Aug 1, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> I read something about that not very long ago. The concrete is hundreds of feet thick or summat. Can only presume the reason it hasn't been pulled down is that it's still part of teh secret underground network 'round those parts.
> 
> But yep, def an unbelievable munter.



Admiralty Blockhouse - and yes it certainly is. They put ivy on it to try and hide it. 

I dunno if I prefer government bunkers above or below ground. At least we know where that one is


----------



## T & P (Aug 1, 2007)

Don't know what it's called so apologies if it's been named already but what about that awful tower block- I think it's part of a military barracks- on the edge of Hyde Park? The tower itself is not the ugliest in the world (though still pretty awful) but its location is just beyond comprehension. It's the only building in the skyline when looking from within Hyde Park and fucks up the entire view.

The cunt who gave planning permission for that abominationshould be dropped from the top of it 


ETA: here it is: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Boathouse.jpg/800px-Serpentine_Boathouse.jpg


----------



## laptop (Aug 2, 2007)

T & P said:
			
		

> The cunt who gave planning permission for that abomination should be dropped from the top of it



It's the Army. 

They don't need planning permission.

They have armoured bulldozers


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 2, 2007)

Roadkill said:
			
		

> Senate House is pretty damned ugly:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Reminds me of Vancouver City Hall


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 2, 2007)

Has no one mentioned the London Hilton on Park Lane?   






It's far uglier than Basil Spence's Hyde Park Barracks IMHO


----------



## laptop (Aug 2, 2007)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> Has no one mentioned the London Hilton on Park Lane?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Not much in it:


----------



## paolo (Aug 2, 2007)

secretlondon said:
			
		

> It totally ruins the view from Falcon Point.



Please say you are taking the piss.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

T & P said:
			
		

> Don't know what it's called so apologies if it's been named already but what about that awful tower block- I think it's part of a military barracks- on the edge of Hyde Park? The tower itself is not the ugliest in the world (though still pretty awful) but its location is just beyond comprehension. It's the only building in the skyline when looking from within Hyde Park and fucks up the entire view.
> 
> The cunt who gave planning permission for that abominationshould be dropped from the top of it
> 
> ...


Hyde Park Barracks, though I've always known it as Knightsbridge Barracks and, yep, I agree it's wholly inappropriate.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

Here's one mentioned in the above artice that's almost always overlooked: 50, Queen Ann's Gate; basically a giant bolt through the neck of Victoria.


----------



## selamlar (Aug 2, 2007)

I know that the thread is called 'Ugliest Building in London' but, for the sake of those in the provinces, I give you:


----------



## behemoth (Aug 2, 2007)

beeboo said:
			
		

> Chz - agree wholeheartedly.
> 
> How could I forget the Archway Tower?  I did some work with local residents recently about what they felt about the area, and it's clear that tower and its surrounds have completely wrecked that area.


Agreed.  Who owns all those empty shops?  Surely a drop in rents would lift the area to compete with all the busy surrounding shops?  Getting rid of the pedestrian subway was a good start, but it needs a bit of vision thing.


----------



## HackneyE9 (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> What lunatic thought it a good idea to put a 10-12 storey blocks of flats slap bang in the middle of Crystal Palace Park - it just beggars belief.
> 
> I suppose you can add the whole friggin ex-National Sports Stadium as well; it's  Clockwork Orange achitecture but badly lit.
> 
> Drives me mental.



They are flats for the visiting athletes - and quite elegantly landscaed too. The  Sorts stadium itself is grade II listed and deservedly so. A fantastic sacious bold swimming ool and elevated walkway. The whole lace needs a bit of TLC and a facelift, however.


----------



## HackneyE9 (Aug 2, 2007)

HackneyE9 said:
			
		

> They are flats for the visiting athletes - and quite elegantly landscaed too. The  Sorts stadium itself is grade II listed and deservedly so. A fantastic sacious bold swimming ool and elevated walkway. The whole lace needs a bit of TLC and a facelift, however.



s - there's no letter 'lmno_q' on my keyboard, in case you're wondering, after MrsHackeyE9 silt tea on it.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

Well, your keyboard stands as a fine metaphor for the building in question. So . . .

"Flats for visiting athletes" -how long does it take to run a race, FFS ?


And if that's Grade II, I really don't want to experience Grade III - in my humblest of opinions, it’s an architectural abomination, an athletic white elephant and a financial disaster recognised as such in its abandonment by national athletics organisations and its dumping on Bromley BC. Clockwork Orange architecture.

If it were anything more, than that it’s involvement in 2012 would be more significant than having a proposed tram extension to help get _from_ the Palace.


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> Here's one mentioned in the above artice that's almost always overlooked: 50, Queen Ann's Gate; basically a giant bolt through the neck of Victoria.


That's a bit more controversial. You can learn to love brutalism


----------



## Maggot (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> "Flats for visiting athletes" -how long does it take to run a race, FFS ?


 Ever heard of training and preparation?

I think it must be quite good for the athletes to be able to stay in such pleasant surroundings and be only a short walk from the stadium.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

Maggot said:
			
		

> Ever heard of training and preparation?


I suppose it would make sense to accomodate athletes on site if your architectural brief and vision was a proper national sports complex with state-of-art facilities, so perhaps that was the idea back in the day.

In fact, the site came to epitomise the dreadful underfunding of the whole of  London in sports facilities compared with the regions.

Doesn't explain the reasoning that determined a 10-12 storey block of flats in the middle of a park was the best solution.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> Doesn't explain the reasoning that determined a 10-12 storey block of flats in the middle of a park was the best solution.


Think how much park would have been used up if it was low rise.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

errr, yes.

or how about not build at all in the middle of a park?


----------



## laptop (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> or how about not build at all in the middle of a park?



But as I recall it, it was built as the National Sports Centre Showing The Government's Commitment To Supporting Sport, Wonderful Sport.

How would it do that if it didn't stick out like a sore thumb?


----------



## DeadManWalking (Aug 2, 2007)

Going back a bit to St George's Wharf, the building next to it, Brunswick House which is now owned by Lassco is grade II listed.  The developers of St George's wanted to knock it down and build over it but couldn't get permission so it was sold on and now Lassco have covered the beautiful old building with scaffolding and hung adverts off it.


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 2, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> Going back a bit to St George's Wharf, the building next to it, Brunswick House which is now owned by Lassco is grade II listed.  The developers of St George's wanted to knock it down and build over it but couldn't get permission so it was sold on and now Lassco have covered the beautiful old building with scaffolding and hung adverts off it.


Is it beautiful because it's old? It looks dark, ill-proportioned and boring to me. I prefer St Georges Wharf


----------



## DeadManWalking (Aug 2, 2007)

Brainaddict said:
			
		

> Is it beautiful because it's old? It looks dark, ill-proportioned and boring to me. I prefer St Georges Wharf



I hestitated before typing beautiful because it probably isn't but I do like the pillars around the entrance and the shape of the building, now it is just a cube covered in bill boards which I guess fits in better next to St George's Wharf.


----------



## Maggot (Aug 2, 2007)

Brainaddict said:
			
		

> Is it beautiful because it's old? It looks dark, ill-proportioned and boring to me. I prefer St Georges Wharf


 It only looks ill proportioned since St Georges Wharf was built.


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 2, 2007)

I don't understand the hatred for St Georges Wharf, with so many contenders in London for the *really* ugly building prize. So I'm going to post a picture just to annoy all the haterz




What's so bad about that?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

It looks like a rearranged MI6 builing - someone's just moved the blocks around abit.


Just remembered the thing that used to do my head in more than any other; it was right at the Vauxhall Cross end of Nine Elms Road and looked like a multi-storey car park, but might not have been due to me never having seen a car in there in 10 years. I think it's top-end flats, now.

Jesus, I never understood that one.


----------



## DeadManWalking (Aug 2, 2007)

Where St George's Wharf is now used to be a compound for towed away vehicles


----------



## bluestreak (Aug 2, 2007)

i'm kind of with brainaddict, i don't think it looks that bad.

i vote for canary wharf.  it's a nation embarrassment.  a monument to blandness and souless commerce, an icon of grey.  what sort of mind says "we're going to build a massive skyscraper and we're going to make it DULL"?  

i'd rather have ugly buildins with ambition than that turgid gruel.


----------



## beeboo (Aug 2, 2007)

HackneyE9 said:
			
		

> They are flats for the visiting athletes - and quite elegantly landscaed too. The Sorts stadium itself is grade II listed and deservedly so. A fantastic sacious bold swimming ool and elevated walkway. The whole lace needs a bit of TLC and a facelift, however.



I have really mixed feelings about that sports centre.  I love the main building, and I love the concept and the appearance of the open-plan interior.  However, how it stands with the main entrance being largely unused and people now entering in a very apologetic side extension.  

Plus whilst the concept of the open-plan facility is great, in practice it renders the experience of playing sport there frustrating and upleasant - I use the badminton courts, and the light is terrible, it's always hot and humid due to the swimming pool and noise reverbrates so the sound from a few people playing basketball can be really annoying.

I was actually very disappointed that English Heritage wouldn't remove the listing so it could be demolished as part of the park redevelopment, as it's a major blow to getting some decent sports facilites for the area.


----------



## Structaural (Aug 2, 2007)

That reminds me, was Brixton (w)rec(k) designed by the same people who designed the Barrier Block?


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> It looks like a rearranged MI6 builing - someone's just moved the blocks around abit.
> 
> 
> Just remembered the thing that used to do my head in more than any other; it was right at the Vauxhall Cross end of Nine Elms Road and looked like a multi-storey car park, but might not have been due to me never having seen a car in there in 10 years. I think it's top-end flats, now.
> ...



It was a cold store for hanging meat for Nine Elms market.

There was an urban legend at our school that people practised black magic in there.


----------



## DeadManWalking (Aug 2, 2007)

bluestreak said:
			
		

> i'm kind of with brainaddict, i don't think it looks that bad.
> 
> i vote for canary wharf.  it's a nation embarrassment.  a monument to blandness and souless commerce, an icon of grey.  what sort of mind says "we're going to build a massive skyscraper and we're going to make it DULL"?
> 
> i'd rather have ugly buildins with ambition than that turgid gruel.



I quitre like Canary wharf, especially if you're stood beneath it the whole area is quite dramatic and makes you feel small.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2007)

PacificOcean said:
			
		

> It was a cold store for hanging meat for Nine Elms market.
> 
> There was an urban legend at our school that people practised black magic in there.


Yes!

Somewhere in the back of my head I think I might have been told that, but the multi-storey vibe was so overpowering. Cheers for clearing it up.


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 2, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> I quitre like Canary wharf, especially if you're stood beneath it the whole area is quite dramatic and makes you feel small.



Agreed.

Canary Wharf is fantastic.


----------



## Maggot (Aug 2, 2007)

London_Calling said:
			
		

> Yes!
> 
> Somewhere in the back of my head I think I might have been told that, but the multi-storey vibe was so overpowering. Cheers for clearing it up.


 It actually said Nine Elms Cold Storage on the side of the building in huge letters.  I can't find a picture of it anywhere - anyone?

I was on a bus going over Vauxhall Bridge with a friend who was a bit short-sighted. We were looking at that building and he said 'Do you think they really store gold in there?'


----------



## Dan U (Aug 2, 2007)

behemoth said:
			
		

> Battersea Power Station.
> 
> Just flatten the eyesore and build something relevant, like affordable housing.



Heathen.

They already did that with another of Gilbert-Scotts wonderful buildings, the Guinness Factory in Park Royal


----------



## PacificOcean (Aug 2, 2007)

Dan U said:
			
		

> Heathen.
> 
> They already did that with another of Gilbert-Scotts wonderful buildings, the Guinness Factory in Park Royal



I worked there.

The place was infested with cockroaches.  It was like working a horror movie.  

I can't say I remember the buildings as being particularly memorable.


----------



## Dan U (Aug 2, 2007)

PacificOcean said:
			
		

> I worked there.
> 
> The place was infested with cockroaches.  It was like working a horror movie.
> 
> I can't say I remember the buildings as being particularly memorable.



i went round it when it shut  

they were deserving off listing imo, or at least some of it was. Gilbert Scott was a notable designer/architect and it deserved better than being flattened to build more glib warehouse units and barrat type housing.


----------



## Chz (Aug 2, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> I quitre like Canary wharf, especially if you're stood beneath it the whole area is quite dramatic and makes you feel small.


You can get that anywhere there are a large number of tall buildings clustered together. La Defense and Manhattan do it with infinitely more style.


----------



## vauxhallmum (Aug 2, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> That enormous green glass monster by vauxhall.



but i like that! good pub beneath it as well


----------



## paolo (Aug 2, 2007)

Chz said:
			
		

> You can get that anywhere there are a large number of tall buildings clustered together.



Nyyyeesss... but this thread is about London. If one likes high rise clusters, Canary Wharf is arguably the best one we have.


----------



## DeadManWalking (Aug 3, 2007)

vauxhallmum said:
			
		

> but i like that! good pub beneath it as well



You mean the 3rd most exensive pub in London!?


----------



## vauxhallmum (Aug 3, 2007)

DeadManWalking said:
			
		

> Lets just face it most of Vauxhall is ugly



tis true..sob


----------



## Reno (Aug 3, 2007)

I always gasp in horror at the Seacontainers House. It's the golden bits they stuck on that lifts this from being bland into being grotequely tasteless.


----------



## HackneyE9 (Aug 4, 2007)

Reno said:
			
		

> I always gasp in horror at the Seacontainers House. It's the golden bits they stuck on that lifts this from being bland into being grotequely tasteless.



It's even more naff when you know the Thatcherite history behind it, Reno. Maggie flogged off all the old BR ferries and 'Sealink' ports back in about '84 to Seacontainers in what was even then, before water, electricity etc, called the 'sale of the century'. It rapidy flogged them on to various other ferry operators for around four times what they'd paid the taxpayer for them, whilst being registered in the British Virgin Ilsands to avoid tax, natch, and now own GNER except Seacontainers have gone bust, forcing GNER into admin, and selling back the East Coast franchise.


----------



## nino_savatte (Aug 4, 2007)

spanglechick said:
			
		

> Have you ever had to walk into it, day after day?  it's a building that tries really hard to stop light getting in - even though the windows.  I like the hayward gallery and national theatre - it isn't the style of architecture i object to - it's just a fucking depressing building to walk into (it's those upward sloping lips of concrete at ground level that i particularly hate).



I agree, it's an awful building and it tends to suffer from weird temperature variations. One room can be freezing cold and another down the corridor can be unbearably hot. Too much concrete makes for depressing buildings. In fact, I can't find anything nice to say about Lasdun's neo-brutalism.


----------



## nino_savatte (Aug 4, 2007)

HackneyE9 said:
			
		

> The Institute of Education is a civilised icon, by Denis Lasdun. It's absolutley beautiful. Why not try picking a real monstrosity, like all the shit that's just gone up alongside St Pauls? Or any of the bog-standard pre-fab 'made of marble so it must be classy' Canary Wharf office blocks



Have you ever had to work in the IoE?


----------



## nino_savatte (Aug 4, 2007)

I don't know if it has been mentioned but how about that horrid Poulsonesque building near the former County Hall? I think it may be in the process of being demolished but what an eyesore!


----------



## Kameron (Aug 4, 2007)

Crispy said:
			
		

> Nah, fiddly bits on a human scale is nice - it's been built by machine, but by people using machines to replicate handcraft. Modern mass production isn't a patch on it for artistic merit. And lots of modern 'designed' stuff often looks like the designer made on line on the computer and then couldn't be bothered to Undo. That why, IMO the best modern design is functional and without ornament. Ornamentation went crap about 80 years ago.


I think that this is at least partly because ornamentation was originally not only to decorate but also to hide construction artifacts, joints, beam ends and the like. By and large they serve no purpose at all and look even worse with a CCTV camera bolted on to them as an after thought.

The Bat wings on St Georges Wharf look fucking stupid and I have to agree with who ever said that Sea Containers House was butt ugly.


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 4, 2007)

I was told by someone who lived in the adjacent flats that Sea Containers House was originally planned as a luxury hotel.   It was part of the overall "Kings Reach" development, designed by Richard Seifert of Centrepoint fame/infamy, that also includes the (former) IPC tower, but the developer went bust in the property slump of the early 70s.   It was then left as an unfinished concrete frame eysesore on the riverside for several years before being quickly and cheaply converted into offices, and wasn't "finished" until 1978.    (And it appeared to sprout several extra storeys in the process !)

It appears that the glitzy refit for Sea Containers (in the mid 80s?) was by the same American architect Warren Platner [who designed the now destroyed restaurant at the top of the World Trade Centre].  I think Southwark Council were craven enough to allow it gain yet another floor at the same time ...


----------



## HackneyE9 (Aug 4, 2007)

nino_savatte said:
			
		

> Have you ever had to work in the IoE?



Yeah. I was even awarded my degree in it. You?


----------



## nino_savatte (Aug 4, 2007)

HackneyE9 said:
			
		

> Yeah. I was even awarded my degree in it. You?



I did my PGCE and Masters there.


----------



## Blagsta (Aug 4, 2007)

PacificOcean said:
			
		

> Agreed.
> 
> Canary Wharf is fantastic.



I was there today, taking photos.  The whole place is really fucking ugly.


----------



## Bahnhof Strasse (Aug 6, 2007)

A lot of folk disliked this one:







But I loved it. 

Held some blinding parties in there, raving off yer tits seeing the houses of parliament through the windows behind the rig.


To thios who hated it, check what's going in it's place:






And weep.


----------



## untethered (Aug 6, 2007)

PacificOcean said:
			
		

> Agreed.
> 
> Canary Wharf is fantastic.



Fantastic at what? Fantastic at being big, perhaps. That's hardly an achievement. On a world scale, it's small anyway.

One Canada Square is as nondescript inside as it is outside. It might as well be in Croydon or Slough.


----------



## Andy the Don (Aug 6, 2007)

This building & its adjacent car park in Colliers Wood SW London..






Its just sooo ugly..


----------



## Brainaddict (Aug 6, 2007)

Andy the Don said:
			
		

> This building & its adjacent car park in Colliers Wood SW London..
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think that may be the winner


----------



## editor (Aug 6, 2007)

Brainaddict said:
			
		

> I think that may be the winner


Hold on. What about: 




Brixton car park. It's a beast all right.


----------



## beeboo (Aug 6, 2007)

editor said:
			
		

> Hold on. What about:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



fuck me that's ugly.


----------



## rennie (Aug 12, 2007)

The Elephant n castle. simply horrid!


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 12, 2007)

The car park makes me smile, it looks like it was designed to have pre-subsidence. And that's just the entry ramp.

God, Colliers Wood is bleak.


----------



## lang rabbie (Aug 12, 2007)

Andy the Don said:
			
		

> This building & its adjacent car park in Colliers Wood SW London..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



There are some (really badly scanned) pictures of the proposed recladding and extension of the Brown and Root tower and the new buildings to replace the car park on Merton Council's planning website at:

http://planning.merton.gov.uk/MVM.D...57000/1000057778/06P1641_Design Statement.pdf

I'm not clear why the planning application is still unresolved after a year


----------



## Negativland (Aug 12, 2007)

MI6 and TV-AM. The most run down brutalist carpark will never look as bad.


----------



## lights.out.london (Aug 12, 2007)

Dubversion said:
			
		

> i'd like to nominate that fucking HORROR that runs down the east side of Farringdon, from the station up towards Rosebery Avenue. What a disgusting lump of filth that is, can't believe I've never noticed it before. On a nice sunny day like this, it's a blight on the whole street (which is hardly Shangri La anyway)
> 
> what's yours?



It was purpose built for a stockbroking firm in the late 80s called Smith New Court, IIRC. Then swallowed by the Thundering Herd (Merrill Lynch, an American investment bank).


----------



## lights.out.london (Aug 12, 2007)

Andy the Don said:
			
		

> This building & its adjacent car park in Colliers Wood SW London..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



My ex lives in Colliers Wood. I'd never been that far south on the Noerthern line before I met her. I remember the first time I was at the station waiting for her to collect me, staring at that thing. Talk about incongruous, as well as an eye sore. 

She said (and she said a lot of things  ) that Merton council (??) don't have the money to demolish it and can't find a commercial developer who's willing to pay for the demolition??

Fucking ugly all the same.


----------



## Janh (Aug 12, 2007)

Bahnhof Strasse said:
			
		

> A lot of folk disliked this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



God that's really sad. I hated the old lump and this proposed glass column lacks imagination. Ticks the box for maximizing the sq footage though, ffs.

I believe traffic islands could be landscaped and open to light and air. This one would be fitting for this treatment as it's on the south end of one of our landmark bridges and next to the snazzy snakey Waterloo International terminal. They need space, to step back and enjoy them imo. 

Take the aweful island in Aldgate for example, mow it down and plant trees.


----------



## Chairman Meow (Aug 12, 2007)

lightsoutlondon said:
			
		

> My ex lives in Colliers Wood. I'd never been that far south on the Noerthern line before I met her. I remember the first time I was at the station waiting for her to collect me, staring at that thing. Talk about incongruous, as well as an eye sore.
> 
> She said (and she said a lot of things  ) that Merton council (??) don't have the money to demolish it and can't find a commercial developer who's willing to pay for the demolition??
> 
> Fucking ugly all the same.



You'd think they could clean it, or paint it, or something. Although it probably wouldn't help much. Colliers Wood doesn't have much going for it, does it?


----------



## Janh (Aug 12, 2007)

lightsoutlondon said:
			
		

> It was purpose built for a stockbroking firm in the late 80s called Smith New Court, IIRC. Then swallowed by the Thundering Herd (Merrill Lynch, an American investment bank).



You'd think they'd spend some money on their buildings, that one has its granite cladding falling off for ages.


----------



## ska invita (Jul 5, 2010)

thistle tower hotel gets a kicking but i think it is a suitable building for its environment. its right next to tower bridge and the tower of london, and rather than compete it tries to look blank and let them take the glory. even beyond that i quite like it - especially the windows. MUCH worse is a new glass and steel thing opposite tower of london - completely out of place and clashes with the historical buildings in its midst. its a carbunkle i tells ya!


----------



## tommers (Jul 5, 2010)

took you 5 years to come up with that?!?

I expected more.


----------



## Wibbly Dwain (Jul 5, 2010)

http://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/st-pauls/images/4-info-centre.jpg


----------



## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

tommers said:


> took you 5 years to come up with that?!?
> 
> I expected more.



its been brewing up inside me all that time...


----------



## blossie33 (Jul 6, 2010)

Lollybelle said:


> The Brunswick centre, definitely.  It's ugly and depressing and completely out of character for the area.  Although one good thing is that its so minging no chain shops want to move in there.



But what a big difference now!!
I went to the Renoir cinema a couple of weeks ago after not having been for some years - couldn't believe how much better the area is!


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 6, 2010)

Driving south towards the entrance to the Blackwall tunnel, there's a decaying 70s high rise block to the right (looking west). Depresses the hell out of me. Mind you, left, right - the whole approach does that.

On that stretch there's  also a bus stop carved into the concrete walls of the approach -  a small concrete lay by reached by stairs. Something desperately soulless  about that place.


----------



## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

London_Calling said:


> Driving south towards the entrance to the Blackwall tunnel, there's a decaying 70s high rise block to the right (looking west). Depresses the hell out of me. Mind you, left, right - the whole approach does that.



i think it might be a listed building!

if its the one im thinking of its done by the fella who did the one in notting hill...

looked up - building is by Ernő Goldfinger - i think the blackwall one is Balfron Tower




and 
Carradale House





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carradale_House#Carradale_House
is that it you think? Theyre both grade 2 listed buildings!


----------



## Maggot (Jul 6, 2010)

It has to be the ugly, disused office block at Colliers Wood.






Apparently they can't demolish it cos it would damage the tube line underneath.  




London_Calling said:


> Driving south towards the entrance to the Blackwall tunnel, there's a decaying 70s high rise block to the right (looking west). Depresses the hell out of me. Mind you, left, right - the whole approach does that.


I think that's the twin of Trellick Tower in west London.


----------



## DeadManWalking (Jul 6, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> What's Vauxhall Cross? Is that the Raelian escape ramp thingy that's the new bus interchange?




I was wondering that, The bus station is the bus station and the worst building is the BT building






Just googled it and thought this thread looked familiar

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=216662&page=2


----------



## pootle (Jul 6, 2010)

Lollybelle said:


> The Brunswick centre, definitely.  It's ugly and depressing and completely out of character for the area.  Although one good thing is that its so minging no chain shops want to move in there.



I like the Brunswick Centre! Those flats/homes are brilliantly designed and I'd kill a small baby to live there.

And yeah - no chain shops in the the Brunswick shopping centre other than Waitrose, New Look, River Island, Giraffe, Starbucks, Gap, Superdrug, Boots etc etc


----------



## Maggot (Jul 6, 2010)

pootle said:


> I like the Brunswick Centre! Those flats/homes are brilliantly designed and I'd kill a small baby to live there.
> 
> And yeah - no chain shops in the the Brunswick shopping centre other than Waitrose, New Look, River Island, Giraffe, Starbucks, Gap, Superdrug, Boots etc etc


That post was made 5 years ago, before it got done up.


----------



## pootle (Jul 6, 2010)

Maggot said:


> That post was made 5 years ago, before it got done up.



Have just seen that 

Why do people bump stupidly old threads anyway?


----------



## Maggot (Jul 6, 2010)

pootle said:


> Have just seen that
> 
> Why do people bump stupidly old threads anyway?


To make you look stupid.


----------



## cybertect (Jul 6, 2010)

Maggot said:


> I think that's the twin of Trellick Tower in west London.



Balfron was a sort-of pilot for the Trellick. IIRC Goldfinger lived there with his family for six months to figure out what was right/wrong about it before going on to design Trellick.


----------



## temper_tantrum (Jul 6, 2010)

St George Wharf at Vauxhall. Utterly vile.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 6, 2010)

ska invita said:


> i think it might be a listed building!
> 
> if its the one im thinking of its done by the fella who did the one in notting hill...
> 
> ...



Pretty sure that's it. It's a hell of a spectre on a grey, drizzly winter evening  as traffic is crawling towards the tunnel . . .

Good spot!

Good call on Colliers Wood.


----------



## editor (Jul 6, 2010)

I'll merge these two thread to stop any more confusion.


----------



## Bahnhof Strasse (Jul 6, 2010)

The sorting office on New Oxford Street takes some beating in the don't fit in with your surroundings stakes






Mind you, twas a cracking venue for a couple of raves


----------



## maldwyn (Jul 6, 2010)

Not yet finished and it turns my stomach every time I  see it.

1 New Change - directly opposite St Paul's.


----------



## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

lights.out.london said:


> My ex lives in Colliers Wood. I'd never been that far south before I met her.


----------



## ska invita (Jul 6, 2010)

Bahnhof Strasse said:


> The sorting office on New Oxford Street takes some beating in the don't fit in with your surroundings stakes
> 
> 
> 
> ...



would love to have been there for that.

 Theres a similiar building on farringdon street, going north from blackfriars bridge up towards spitalfields, just before you would turn right for spitalfields on the left theres a big office block - empty for years, and its got these 50s tiled abstract mosaics on the outside - anyone know what that place was?


----------



## maldwyn (Jul 6, 2010)

ska invita said:


> - anyone know what that place was?


Fleet Building (site of river Fleet) - another mega Post Office/Telcom office block. Murals by Dorothy Annan 








> The first International Subscriber Dialling (ISD) call was made by the Lord Mayor of London (Sir Ralph Perring) at 11am on 8th March 1963. Calling from Fleet Building, he dialled 13 digits and was connected to Monsieur Jacques Marette, the French Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones, in Paris.


----------



## kittyP (Jul 6, 2010)

I can't remember if I posted back when this thread was started and I can't be arsed to look.

I voted EnC but I really have a problem with the festival and QE hall.
Such good stuff goes on in such ugly buildings!


----------



## Maggot (Jul 7, 2010)

kittyP said:


> I can't remember if I posted back when this thread was started and I can't be arsed to look.


You haven't. 

HTH


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 7, 2010)

i wish people could see the beauty of the south bank buildings - i even like the concrete walkways


----------



## DJWrongspeed (Jul 7, 2010)

Don't know what people have against E&C shopping centre?  it's a thriving place, it's just the outside that's the problem. 

Arundel St nr Temple is pretty dire but to be fair it's all being knocked down.  That old lawyers building is dire.  Kind of an image here


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 7, 2010)

Kings on the right init?


----------



## ska invita (Jul 7, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> i wish people could see the beauty of the south bank buildings - i even like the concrete walkways



With you all the way on that one - the relatively recent graffed underbelly is cool too.


----------



## bromley (Jul 7, 2010)

I can't stand the Barbican towers.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 7, 2010)

they're amazing. someone better not start slagging the trellick tower now


----------



## maldwyn (Jul 7, 2010)

bromley said:


> I can't stand the Barbican towers.


A friend lives in Shakespeare tower, all I can say is to know them is to love them.


----------



## kyser_soze (Jul 7, 2010)

The Barbican is a great space, and the flats themselves are incredible. Brilliant use of space.


----------



## ska invita (Jul 7, 2010)

kyser_soze said:


> The Barbican is a great space, and the flats themselves are incredible. Brilliant use of space.



its a bit shit at ground/road level though...


----------



## Crispy (Jul 7, 2010)

ska invita said:


> its a bit shit at ground/road level though...


Yep. Terrible integration with its surroundings. Could do with a major overhaul to make the whole lake area accessible from the surrounding streets.


----------



## fogbat (Jul 7, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> they're amazing. someone better not start slagging the trellick tower now



I think people already have, way back in this thread.

I always love going past the Trellick Tower on the train. Puts a smile on my face


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 7, 2010)

Crispy said:


> Yep. Terrible integration with its surroundings. Could do with a major overhaul to make the whole lake area accessible from the surrounding streets.



and let the proles in? 
i like it's enclosure from the surrounding world. well ballardian.


----------



## sam/phallocrat (Jul 8, 2010)

the BT buildings opposite the Scientology HQ on Queen Victoria Street are quite extraordinarily grim - in fact there's a load of fucking nasty piles all over the Square Mile


----------



## davesgcr (Jul 11, 2010)

At least the old Paternoster Square near St Pauls has rightfully been demolished and replaced with something a bit better ! (along with the old 3 towers which used to house the Dept of Environment)  

I agree that there are some bad 1960's blocks crying out for the wrecking ball.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 11, 2010)

late entry for the perfectly hideous qvc home shopping channel builiding next to battersea park:


----------



## maldwyn (Jul 11, 2010)

Can't remember the last time I saw a wrecking ball - they were fun.


----------



## Greenfish (Jul 11, 2010)

that estate in brixton, just round the corner from the dog star.

whoever "designed" that should be shot.


----------



## Greenfish (Jul 11, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> late entry for the perfectly hideous qvc home shopping channel builiding next to battersea park:



imagine that cunt was your home!


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 11, 2010)

Greenfish said:


> that estate in brixton, just round the corner from the dog star.
> 
> whoever "designed" that should be shot.



the barrier block? it's actually quite a well designed tower block. people like living there.


----------



## MysteryGuest (Jul 11, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> late entry for the perfectly hideous qvc home shopping channel builiding next to battersea park:




that might be getting demolished as part of a "luxury" development.


e2a link:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...side-landmark-to-be-knocked-down-for-flats.do


----------



## Crispy (Jul 11, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> late entry for the perfectly hideous qvc home shopping channel builiding next to battersea park:



ah god >_<

those enormous porticos don't actually have entrance doors in them. they're just for show  really shallow design


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 11, 2010)

the bloke who designed wasn't even an arcitect


----------



## Louloubelle (Jul 11, 2010)

Archway Tower

It dominates the surrounding area like some gigantic, menacing, predatory beast.

It is impossible to see it piercing the skyline and to not experience a sinking feeling of depression.

It is like some horrid, malevolent chimney that sucks the life out of everything and spews out hopelessness and deadness.


----------



## TopCat (Jul 11, 2010)

I once had to go there to get a counter payment. Not fun...


----------



## JWH (Jul 12, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> the bloke who designed wasn't even an arcitect



They're really, really ugly buildings. Weren't they the Observer offices at one point?


----------



## cybertect (Jul 12, 2010)

Orang Utan said:


> the bloke who designed wasn't even an arcitect



Ian Pollard. He was also responsible for the strange mix of neo-Egyptian, neo-Classical and God-knows-what, with some quotes from James Stirling's Stuttgart Staatsgalerie thrown in for additional bizarreness, that was/is the Earls Court branch of Homebase. 

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/113272-Homebase-London/photos/142250

edit: there was originally a Corinthian colonnade fronting the store (lifted in part from Charles Moore's _Piazza d'Italia_ in New Orleans IIRC) which angered Lord Sainsbury so much when he made a site visit, that he ordered it to be demolished, despite it costing £150,000.


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## cybertect (Jul 12, 2010)

JWH said:


> They're really, really ugly buildings. Weren't they the Observer offices at one point?



Possibly. They were certainly occupied by British Satellite Broadcasting, later BSkyB, soon after their completion.

Good riddance if they do get knocked down, IMO. Worst sort of 80s pomo tat.


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## JWH (Jul 12, 2010)

cybertect said:


> They were certainly occupied by British Satellite Broadcasting, later BSkyB, soon after their completion.


Aah, no, you're probably right and I am confusing my media companies. BSB would have moved over to Wapping after Murdoch acquired them, presumably.


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## cybertect (Jul 12, 2010)

No, you are right. I checked and The Observer were in there at the same time as BSB in 1987.


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## London_Calling (Jul 12, 2010)

Everything about the Archway area depresses me. It feels like a classic example of how irrational reverence for  the car destroyed quality of life and community.


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## Citizen66 (Jul 12, 2010)

Elephant shopping centre is thoroughly depressing. So completely in character with the surrounding area, then.

And why the epic bump?


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## London_Calling (Jul 12, 2010)

It was one of Mr Ed's 'mergings'. Yes, be afraid


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## ska invita (Jul 12, 2010)

ska invita said:


> thistle tower hotel gets a kicking but i think it is a suitable building for its environment. its right next to tower bridge and the tower of london, and rather than compete it tries to look blank and let them take the glory. even beyond that i quite like it - especially the windows. *MUCH worse is a new glass and steel thing opposite tower of london - completely out of place and clashes with the historical buildings in its midst. its a carbunkle i tells ya!*



i managed to get stranded in east london last night and had to walk home  legs are killing today - but i did get to walk across tower bridge and check the name of that building i hat - its called tower bridge house

here it is blending into the environment




it only went up a few years back and clashes with ev erything around it, and blocks out st. catherines dock. i hate it


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## ska invita (Jul 12, 2010)

London_Calling said:


> Everything about the Archway area depresses me. It feels like a classic example of how irrational reverence for  the car destroyed quality of life and community.



yes agree completely


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## DJWrongspeed (Jul 12, 2010)

Worst building.....that car park on Great Eastern St. , Shoreditch, the one that is a car wash too opposite the Old Blue Last.






This angle makes it look OK even.


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## cybertect (Jul 12, 2010)

DJWrongspeed said:


> Worst building.....that car park on Great Eastern St. , Shoreditch, the one that is a car wash too opposite the Old Blue Last.



I used it once a few years ago. Bastard tight to get into the spaces IIRC, especially if you don't have power steering.


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## g force (Jul 12, 2010)

Also the site of a v funny exchange with some twat in Porsche who'd put a lovely scratch down the side of one wheel arch  His facial expression will live with me for a long time.


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## ska invita (Jul 12, 2010)

London_Calling said:


> It was one of Mr Ed's 'mergings'. Yes, be afraid







Dont blame me!


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## Chz (Jul 12, 2010)

Quite frankly, having lived there for two years in the past, it's the low-rise building _around_ the Archway Tower that I found really off-putting.

The carbuncle down in Colliers Wood is even uglier, too.


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## blossie33 (Jul 12, 2010)

Louloubelle said:


> Archway Tower
> 
> It dominates the surrounding area like some gigantic, menacing, predatory beast.
> 
> ...




I'll second that, it causes a terrible wind tunnel too if there's the slightest breeze. There was talk about getting rid of it or rebuilding it to a lesser height some years ago when they were thinking about redeveloping Archway - would be a good job!


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## JWH (Jul 13, 2010)

blossie33 said:


> I'll second that, it causes a terrible wind tunnel too if there's the slightest breeze. There was talk about getting rid of it or rebuilding it to a lesser height some years ago when they were thinking about redeveloping Archway - would be a good job!



All of the Archway gyratory could do with a swift slap from the wrecker's ball imho.


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## eoin_k (Jul 16, 2010)

Number 1 Poultry got my vote.  Next time you pass it on a bus, take the opportunity to meditate on what a waste of beautiful materials it is.

An ugly building clad in really beautiful sandstone.  Despite the swirling grain of the stone, there is no hiding that this building is nasty.


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## Sunray (Jul 16, 2010)

eoin_k said:


> Number 1 Poultry got my vote.  Next time you pass it on a bus, take the opportunity to meditate on what a waste of beautiful materials it is.
> 
> An ugly building clad in really beautiful sandstone.  Despite the swirling grain of the stone, there is no hiding that this building is nasty.



It always reminds me of a strawberry gateaux, yum.


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## huxley71 (Jul 16, 2010)

This thing outside Collier's Wood tube... http://tinyurl.com/33gbxlc 

Surely that took about 12 minutes to 'design' (if that's the word)?


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## bromley (Sep 8, 2010)

Not the worse, but the railway side of this building is awful, hopefully the paint job will smarten it up.


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## kyser_soze (Sep 8, 2010)

ska invita said:


> i managed to get stranded in east london last night and had to walk home  legs are killing today - but i did get to walk across tower bridge and check the name of that building i hat - its called tower bridge house
> 
> here it is blending into the environment
> 
> ...


 
It's still a better building than the gothic revival monstrosity that is Tower Bridge.


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## pk (Sep 17, 2010)

kyser_soze said:


> It's still a better building than the gothic revival monstrosity that is Tower Bridge.


 
Oh no way, Tower Bridge is ace. It's like two fingers sticking up at any foreign vessel that dares to make its course upstream.


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## kyser_soze (Sep 17, 2010)

Meh. After seeing a docco on what Tower Bridge _could_ have looked like, and what we ended up with, for me it's a twee bit of Victorian fakery.


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## ska invita (Oct 31, 2010)

ska invita;10848044][QUOTE=Bahnhof Strasse said:


> The sorting office on New Oxford Street takes some beating in the don't fit in with your surroundings stakes
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
would love to have been there for that.
[/QUOTE]

it made the papers this morning:



> Police injured during violent clashes at suspected illegal rave in London
> 
> Seven Halloween revellers arrested after confronting police who tried to break up suspected illegal rave at disused building







more:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images...88522144979/Police-officers-injured-i-006.jpg

The article makes it sound like they got away with it - but once everyone had left i doubt the sound made it out


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## ska invita (Oct 31, 2010)

kyser_soze said:


> Meh. After seeing a docco on what Tower Bridge _could_ have looked like, and what we ended up with, for me it's a twee bit of Victorian fakery.


 
i went on a boat party last year, goes way out east up the thames from embankment, then back again. When you're coming into London from out east, the river makes lots of bends, and you pick your way through the industrial (once working) parts of the river - especially at night its pretty bleak. Then all of a sudden you make a last turn, and there's Tower Bridge (the first bridge you come to) - it looks amazing lit up at night, and the fanciness makes a nice contrast to the industrial stretch gone before.






 It also acts like a very ornate front door to London - especially if it has to open to let you pass. It  really made me realise that rivers were the motorways of the past, that allowed you to travel from the big cities of the world, and the bridge acts as the first sign that you have made it to London.

Id love to see some of the alternate designs, and I can see what you mean about it being a bit twee, but i was really impressed by it that night on the boat..


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## kyser_soze (Nov 1, 2010)

Yeah, it does look great from a boat at night! Been a while since I've been on an evening boat trip/party, but for me the best bit of that trip is when you come round the corner and see Canary Wharf and attendent buildings - looks like a giant Xmas tree planted in the middle of the river when all the office lights are on


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## laptop (Nov 1, 2010)

kyser_soze said:


> Yeah, it does look great from a boat at night! Been a while since I've been on an evening boat trip/party, but for me the best bit of that trip is when you come round the corner and see Canary Wharf and attendent buildings - looks like a giant Xmas tree planted in the middle of the river when all the office lights are on


 
I nominate all the other buildings except the original tower with the pyramid roof as London's worst.

The original looked great poking up above the Essex hills as you came in from Sarfend, too.

Now it's all messed up with banks' vanity lights.


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## kyser_soze (Nov 1, 2010)

The triumvirate of Citi, HSBC & Barclays buildings I'm with you, but I really like the old Lehman's building and reckon 1 Canada Sq still looks pretty decent for a high-rise design that's over 25 years old.


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