Skyscraper Takes Heat for Beams (of Light)

Associated Press
The skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street.

LONDON—The sun doesn’t shine all that often in London. But when it does, it is best to avoid walking near 20 Fenchurch Street, the newest skyscraper rising in the city’s financial district.
One facade of the 37-story glass building—dubbed the Walkie Talkie for its slight resemblance to a hand-held radio—slants downward toward the street below. For about two hours a day in recent weeks, it has been reflecting an intense beam of sunlight onto pedestrians and London traffic.
Nearby workers complain the light can be blinding. The project’s developers said Tuesday that street parking in the affected area had been temporarily suspended, after one car owner told British newspapers the light had damaged his bodywork.

Reuters
A member of the media stands in sunlight reflected from the ‘Walkie Talkie’ tower in central London on Tuesday.

The £200 million ($311 million) project’s developers, Land Securities PLC and Canary Wharf PLC, say they’re working to fix the problem, including plans to add a chemical agent to the building’s facade to reduce reflection, according to a person familiar with the situation. Another possible solution: use nonreflecting foil to cover the offending panes of glass, this person said.
Meanwhile, the developers said Tuesday that they would erect a temporary screen at street level for the next two weeks to prevent further problems. The statement didn’t reveal a long-term solution to the issue.
The board of Land Securities, Britain’s biggest developer by market value, met Monday night to discuss options, according to another person familiar with the situation.
The office building, expected to be finished next year, was designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly. Mr. Viñoly’s firm, Rafael Viñoly Architects, didn’t respond to requests for comment on the building’s design.
The building isn’t the first to run into problems from the sun’s glare. The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, which first opened in 2003, was modified after local residents complained the reflection from the building’s stainless steel arches was overheating their homes and adding to their air conditioning bills.
—Marietta Cauchi contributed to this article.
Write to Peter Evans at peter.evans@wsj.com

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