Back in the 1990s I spent a lot of time commuting in and out of London for work.
I came to absolutely loathe it !!!
Not just the uncomfortable travel on increasingly unreliable railway infrastructure in antiquated slam door carriages that were well past their sell by date, but the crowding, noise, filth and polluted air of the Capital itself.
I must admit I was concerned when my eldest daughter chose to move to London and embrace it so wholeheartedly in her career.
However, in supporting her while she has moved around regularly from one rent to another and now the commitment she has made to buying her first property, I have visited London a lot again in recent years.
Her first project was as an assistant construction manager on One Grosvenor Square – https://1gsq.com/ – not a bad starting point for a career.
She then moved to a project in Islington working on the renovation of Finsbury Tower – https://www.jcoffey.com/projects/finsbury-tower/.
The reception area development that she proudly project managed was featured on an episode of The Apprentice when they used the newly revamped offices to conduct the infamous interviews with the final candidates.
On her next project I was delighted to be given a tour around during construction – Nova in Victoria – https://www.macegroup.com/projects/nova-victoria .
Her early responsibilities included managing concrete pouring for the distinctive phase two lower columns and then the floors as they were added.
After the official topping out my wife and I were invited to take a tour down through the 15 stories to see how each level was taking shape. Being a bit of a nerd I was fascinated to see how each level was getting closer and closer to completion as we headed to the ground floor.
Today, she is working on the Timber Square project near the Tate Modern – an important ‘net zero’ orientated development that will set new standards in large scale office and residential buildings – https://www.macegroup.com/media-centre/mace-to-deliver-grade-a-office-redevelopment-in-central-london-for-landsec
One of London’s biggest development projects in recent years has been the amazing regeneration in and around Battersea Power Station. My daughter’s employer has been a major contractor on varying elements of that project https://www.macegroup.com/projects/battersea-power-station and she has been brought in to work on it occasionally when extra support has been needed.
For me, this is a very tangible example of how London has changed over the last 20 years.
My commute into London took me past that iconic structure every day and over the course of five years or so I watched it deteriorate.
Its redevelopment features in this recent Time Out article alongside other examples of stunning architecture that now grace the London skyline and back streets.
Another area associated with general urban decline in the 80s and 90s that I tried to avoid was Kings Cross.
It’s also mentioned in the Time Out article and I was intrigued to revisit that area earlier this year to attend a showing of ‘Moonwalkers’ at the Lightbox.
The show itself was well worth seeing with some stunning immersive images taken 50 plus years ago during the moon landings.
Kings Cross was pretty stunning too and I was very impressed with the regeneration and the architecture of the new buildings that now surround the reborn older areas.
In a statement that emphasises one of the biggest changes since the turn of the century, facilities that were once associated with our reliance on fossil fuels – The Coal Drop Yards and the Gas Holders have been cleverly transformed to contain apartments, shops and leisure outlets.
Supporting my eldest daughter in her efforts to run the London Landmarks half marathon to raise money for the National Deaf Children’s Society gave excellent reason to visit the Capital again.
Given the nature of the event that closed large areas of the City to traffic it was an ideal opportunity to walk around the streets without the chaos and noise of vehicles trying to get as fast as possible from one point to another.
When moving between areas to watch my daughter jog past again I spotted this example of blended architecture.
In the background you have one of skyscrapers The City has become renowned for. Nestled beneath it is a building that looks like it dates back a few hundred years next to what I’m guessing was originally a church that perhaps did not fair too well in the bombing raids of the Second World War that has had a more contemporary frontage put on it.
Beyond 2020 Visions ... 