20 Fenchurch Street
20 Fenchurch Street is a 160 m (525 ft) tall commercial skyscraper in the City of London, designed by Rafael Vinoly. It was nicknamed 'the Walkie-Talkie' because of its distinctive shape, designed to maximise floor space at the higher levels.
The 37-storey tower was constructed on a site outside the designated 'cluster' of City of London high-rises. The City's chief planner gave permissions based on the inclusion of a 'Babylonian sky garden' which would provide a new public piazza for visitors to view the Square Mile.
It gained notoriety for producing powerful downdraughts and hit the headlines during the summer of 2013, when its south-facing concave facade focused sunlight down onto the streets below, where it damaged parked vehicles. A permanent non-reflective awning had to be installed to cover the glass.
Not only was the exterior derided, but the public 'Sky garden' on the top levels was described as having been “designed with all the finesse of a departure lounge”. It was the unanimous winner of the 2015 Carbuncle Cup, with one voter claiming their new life goal was to see the building demolished.
In July 2017, the building was sold to a Hong Kong manufacturing company Lee Kum Kee for £1.3billion - a record price for a single building in the UK. This represents a profit of 167% on the development cost.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.
A brief run down of changes intentions from April in an onwards.
Reslating an ancient water mill
A rare opportunity to record, study and repair early vernacular roofs.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2025/26
Construction apprentice from Lincoln Mia Owen wins this years title.
Insulation solutions with less waste for a circular economy
Rob Firman, Technical and Specification Manager, Polyfoam XPS explains.
Recycled waste plastic in construction
Hierarchy, prevention to disposal, plastic types and approaches.
UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard V1 published
Free-to-access technical standard to enable robust proof of a decarbonising built environment.