When a friend saw the kitchen Alan Higgs built for me she said Wow! I was very pleased, as was Alan, by her reaction. On Thursday I visited a building that has the Wow! Factor.
The exterior is not at all flashy. It is the same height as the surrounding buildings and the pillars (9,600 tonnes of them) are of Derbyshire sandstone; the same stone used in the construction of the City of London Magistrates’ Court next door. It is as unassuming and unobtrusive as a building can be that covers 3 1/2 acres. A nice feature is a covered pedestrian arcade lined with shops and restaurants that continues the line of Watling Street.
Designed by Lord Foster, it cost £1 billion and took ten years to build. Michael Bloomberg surely expected some Wow! for his bucks? Walk inside and there’s all the wow in the world. The wood panelled reception area is like being inside an art installation, maybe a pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery. After I had shown my ID, been photographed and issued with a pass I was directed to the Pantry. Already somewhat discombobulated by my surroundings I thought I had gone down the rabbit hole with Alice. I played for time. “How do I find the Pantry?” “It’s on the 6th floor but the express lift goes direct up there.”
The Pantry is nothing like the pantry at Barmeath. It has a hanging garden, three aquariums, stunning views of St Paul’s, meeting spaces, Bloomberg terminals and, I nearly forgot, counters serving coffee, snacks, fruit and so on for the 4,000 Bloomberg staff working in the building.
Broad, sinuous staircases connect the floors; all open plan except for glass-walled meeting rooms and TV studios. There is an overwhelming sense of space and light in this Tardis building. Heaven knows how any work gets done with such distracting cityscapes outside and such people-watching opportunities inside.
Now for something completely different, although adjacent to the Bloomberg building. Architect Rudolph Palumbo built this repro Queen Anne house in 1952 to live and work in. Today it houses The Walbrook Club. It has a bit of wow just because it’s so dwarfed by its neighbours.
