This one was taken a year ago, after our visit to the London Mithraeum which is located under the Bloomberg building.
( In case you wonder, it was the weekend and hence I was able to stop in the middle of the crossing to look and take the photo without the fear of being run over. )
The first time I did this was when the Cheese Grater was completed. I remember how the lack of symmetry in the juxtaposition of its profile above the Royal Exchange, a building I really like, took me by surprise.
I have always been aware that the city of London has some of the most historical buildings of our city and yet a very different set of planning rules to those we tend to work on elsewhere in London, however, it was after the Walkie Talkie and the Cheese Grater went up that I began to look at the impact this was having at ground floor level.
The growing number of tall buildings, we have seen emerge in the past twenty years has resulted in the progressive loss of light and increase of strong winds at street level, and yet, due to the nature of the City, those towers manage to remain concealed due to the limited number of vantage points such as this one.
This is why I recommend that the next time you are walking around the City, you look up and try to notice those new buildings and ask yourself what impact they are having in their context.
