London Skyline 2012 - all clusters in one view

[wjfox2007]

I know we have the "London Projects" thread, but I thought this was worth a separate thread.

This was something I worked on recently, and which hopefully illustrates the sheer scale of transformation occuring across London.

The pano itself was taken from an apartment block in Forest Hill, South London. It was publicly accessible and I was able to reach
the 7th floor. Every cluster can be seen here - from Battersea to Lambeth, Westminster, Elephant & Castle,
Southwark, The City, right the way through to Greenwich, Canary Wharf and the Docklands.

I used Google Earth to get some of the heights and locations accurate. There are probably some midrises and
smaller towers I've left off, but the important ones are all there. More than 50% of what you see here either
has planning permission, or is undergoing demolition/construction work.

To be honest, it's more like 2015 than 2012... I've included things like the Broadgate Centre expansion,
Bishopsgate Goodsyard, Heron Quays West, Vauxhall Bondway, etc. which are longer term developments.
Anyway, this is the largest rendering I've ever done. Hope you like it. :)

Here's a "before and after" -




2007


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/wjfox2005/foresthillpano.jpg





2012


http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/8812012skyline_pic1.jpg

[wjfox2007]

And here's the annotated version. All 50 of the new towers have been labelled with their names and heights -




http://www.skyscrapernews.com/images/pics/8822012skyline_pic1.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

^
Please don't post images wider than 800 pixels.

[wjfox2007]

Why not?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Posting guidelines

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3711

[Turboff]

^
Please don't post images wider than 800 pixels.

I think an exception should be allowed in this case. It's a very informative image and would be un-viewable if it were any smaller. It's pretty small as it is.

I think it's great, wjfox. It's perhaps the only image that allows me to understand what all the developments are in London.

[ZippyTheChimp]

I think an exception should be allowed in this case. It's a very informative image and would be un-viewable if it were any smaller.What are you talking about?

I said not to post the images.

The link shows the image at full size. Just click on it to toggle to full view.

[ablarc]

Battersea Power Station: what's happening with that?

[lofter1]

Why not?
When you post an image wider that 800 it throws off the entire page -- all the other posts fall in line and a reader has to spend half a day scrolling left & right to read a post.

ergo: The RULE ain't arbitrary :cool:

[jaja3000jaja]

Holy, that's amazing, how many buildings are planned, u/c, or approved? It looks like over 20.

[wjfox2007]

There are 50 new buildings in all. As stated in my earlier post, more than half of them either have planning permission now, or have reached the demolition/construction stage.

[Meerkat]

fantastic images, but i suspect many of them won't get built.

[wjfox2007]

My panorama and a little interview was featured in the Evening Standard (London's most widely-circulated newspaper). :D


http://i7.tinypic.com/61x3bkn.jpg

http://i10.tinypic.com/4qqawkn.jpg

[lofter1]

Congrats on that ^^^ mention, Will ;)

[Meerkat]

I'm trying to work out where the panorama is viewed from - is it Nunhead?

[Meerkat]

Battersea Power Station: what's happening with that?

Very good question. I went past on the train the other day and the answer at present would be absolutely nothing.

When i moved to London in 2000 i understood that planning permission had been given for re-development, at least according to the Evening Standard (complete with maps and diagrams), and work on the site was imminent. Seven years later - nothing. Its such a shame as i think it as an amazing building and deserves to be treated with a bit more respect than it is currently getting, just being left to rot, basically.

[wjfox2007]

I'm trying to work out where the panorama is viewed from - is it Nunhead?


As I explained at the start, it was taken from a tower block in Forest Hill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Hill%2C_London).

[Meerkat]

^
No need to be terse mate, i was just asking. I haven't got the time to read every single message posted on here - i'd be reading all day long.

[Luca]

You know, as far as the Battersea Power Station is concerned, I’ve never been able to see what the fuss is all about. I don’t find it at all an interesting, attractive building. It’s bi, yes, it was on the cover of a Pink Floyd album, yes, but that’s about it (subjectively speaking).

I agree that the redevelopment saga ahs been ridiculous but I think that the ‘necessity’ of developing within the confines of that big hulking mass is one of the issues. Given its very prime location, I would rather they tore it down and, instead of going fro some grandiose scheme, just patched that ruined bit of land with a nice set of new, connected, streets, maybe with a couple of civic buildings in it, but built on the same scale as the surrounding neighborhood. It’s not like there is a surplus of houses in London…

[Fabrizio]

wjfox2007 : just noticed this from last week. Congrats. Beautiful work.


http://i7.tinypic.com/61x3bkn.jpg

http://i10.tinypic.com/4qqawkn.jpg

[Meerkat]

You know, as far as the Battersea Power Station is concerned, I’ve never been able to see what the fuss is all about. I don’t find it at all an interesting, attractive building. It’s bi, yes, it was on the cover of a Pink Floyd album, yes, but that’s about it (subjectively speaking).

I agree that the redevelopment saga ahs been ridiculous but I think that the ‘necessity’ of developing within the confines of that big hulking mass is one of the issues. Given its very prime location, I would rather they tore it down and, instead of going fro some grandiose scheme, just patched that ruined bit of land with a nice set of new, connected, streets, maybe with a couple of civic buildings in it, but built on the same scale as the surrounding neighborhood. It’s not like there is a surplus of houses in London…


The destruction of Battersea power station would be a very great shame, which i'm sure future generations would lament. Personally i love the building. Its featured in numerous films including 1984 and is an icon as far as i am concerned. I only hope it doesn't suffer the fate of Brighton Pier (argued about for years and then eventually caught fire and was destroyed).

[Luca]

I do realize some poepl like it. I just don't see it. Then again, comapred to the Bankside Power Station (now tate Modern), it's a palace.

Question to Meerkat, ahve you seen BPS up clsoe? It's really quite huge/looming/chunky. It benefits from typically beign viewed fat a greatr than typical ondon distance, rom across the river, but I think it and the very industrial surroundings make actual redevelopment of the site less than straightforward.

I think the most imaginative cinematic use of it was in Richard III.

[Meerkat]

I do realize some poepl like it. I just don't see it. Then again, comapred to the Bankside Power Station (now tate Modern), it's a palace.

Question to Meerkat, ahve you seen BPS up clsoe? It's really quite huge/looming/chunky. It benefits from typically beign viewed fat a greatr than typical ondon distance, rom across the river, but I think it and the very industrial surroundings make actual redevelopment of the site less than straightforward.

I think the most imaginative cinematic use of it was in Richard III.


The closest i've been is passing by on the train, but i can imagine being next to the building it would seem immense. The plans i saw for the sites re-development in 2001 would have complimented both the power station and the immediate setting very nicely, but it seems that those particular plans have been shelved. I actually quite like the Bankside power station too - it is quite an austere building, but it was after all a power station. I like the imaginative use the building has been put to. Its such as shame as Battersea power station is a part of Londons industrial heritage, and as i said before it deserves better treatment.

[212]

Wjfox took the Forest Hill pictures for Wikipedia, too! Nice work all around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Hill%2C_London

[Zephyr]

My panorama and a little interview was featured in the Evening Standard (London's most widely-circulated newspaper). :D

Another celebrity in our midst. Setting a new Standard in Londonium.