Friday Photo: Saracens at Liverpool Street
December 2, 2011 by Rob Powell
The neglected Friday Photo returns this week with a snap of some Saracens rubgy players posing with their Aviva Premiership trophy outside of Liverpool Street station. Thanks to TheCity.co.uk’s own “Mercurius Moorgate” for this picture.
What’s happening at the Bank of Ideas?
December 2, 2011 by Rob Powell
Office news website, Offices.org.uk, sent London journalist Peter Watts to check out the Bank of Ideas that has established itself in former UBS offices in Sun Street.
Even since the financial collapse of 2008, London has had more empty office space than it knows what to do with. Or at least, more than most people know what to do with. On November 19th, however, one empty office block was put to imaginative use by members of the headline-grabbing Occupy movement, who walked in to a building just north of Liverpool Street and immediately set to work turning it into the Bank of Ideas, a community space for London.
The Bank of Ideas now occupies the entirety of a huge building on Sun Street that is owned by the UBS bank and had been empty since 2009. Pay a visit and you’ll be struck by the warmth of the welcome and the relentlessness of the activity. Notices on every wall advertise upcoming talks, marches and film screenings, and when a shout goes out that it’s time to give the building a community clean, yet more bustle results. It’s energising and impressive.
Aon take ten floors in new Leadenhall Building
November 17, 2011 by Rob Powell
The first pre-let has been announced for the under-construction Leadenhall Building.
Risk mananagement and reinsurance company, Aon, have agreed to rent almost 200,000 sq ft of office space over ten storeys in the Richard Rogers designed building which has already been nicknamed the “Cheese Grater”.
The building, which will be 47 storeys tall at completion, is a joint venture by British Land and Oxford Properties.
Robert Brown, CEO Aon Limited said, “We are delighted to have chosen The Leadenhall Building as our new London headquarters. The Aon Centre at The Leadenhall Building places us at the heart of the City’s insurance sector and the building’s impressive location and offices reflect our standing as the leading global professional services firm focused on risk and human capital management.
“The UK, and indeed London, remain an integral part of Aon Corp’s strategy. The decision to move to The Leadenhall Building confirms our commitment here and offers us an ideal platform to continue to grow our business and deliver the best of Aon to our clients.”
Aon are currently based in Devonshire Square.
Review: Official Size Five, Wilton’s Music Hall
September 29, 2011 by Rob Powell
Review: Official Size Five at Wilton’s Music Hall, E1
The performance opened to the haunting sound of a football bouncing on the ageing stage of the Wilton’s Music Hall. What sounds an innocuous scene actually created a tremendous sense of trepidation, with each bounce ratcheting up the tension. In the darkened room, the rhythmic sound of leather on wood, which seemed to go on and on, created a real sense of anticipation of what was to come in this mesmerizing abstract piece by dancer, Noel Wallace.
Official Size Five uses the story of Justin Fashanu – the openly gay black footballer who killed himself – as the backdrop for a compelling piece of work. Archive footage of Fashanu was combined with recorded sequences of Wallace performing on a London rooftop, interrupted by live sequences from the pioneering dancer on the stage of the beautiful venue.
The film elements were interspersed with archive appearances of Sister Rosa Tharpe and Jean Michel Basquiat who, like Fashanu, excelled in their field but remained outsiders. While some of the dialogue in the footage was lost to the acoustics of the room, the visuals stitched together a powerful tale which culminated in a stunning live finale, both sensual and horrifying, with Wallace and incredible aerialist Augusts Dakteris.
Official Size Five will be performed again tonight at Wilton’s Music Hall.
For Sale: Tower 42, for £290 million
September 16, 2011 by Rob Powell
The City of London”s iconic Tower 42 has been put for sale with a price tag of £290 million.
The tower at 25 Old Broad Street, originally known as the NatWest Tower, is one of six buildings in the City being put up for sale by owners Blackrock and LaSalle Investment Management.
“With limited supply and increasing demand exerting upward pressure on rents in the City market, investors can anticipate strong returns and considerable long term growth potential,” said Jeff Morton, managing director at Blackrock.
When building of the tower was completed in 1980, it was London’s – and the UK’s – tallest building; a badge of honour it kept for ten years until it was overtaken by the One Canada Square at Canary Wharf.
PropertyWeek.com lists the other buildings up for sale as:
- 20 Old Broad Street (36,000 sq ft)
- 30 Old Broad Street (49,000 sq ft)
- the Plaza Restaurant (3,500 sq ft).
- 15 Bishopsgate (46,000 sq ft)
- the grade I-listed Gibson Hall (13,000 sq ft).