London Projects

[Pdog]

Can I just thank Nick Taylor, Zupermaus, London lad, Wfox etc for their great contributions. I have signed on to say that this is by far the most exciting thread and London's projects are just amazing. The City seems to be improving so rapidly.

I really hope Greg's comments don't stop you from continuing your amazing updates. He seems to have a problem with English people as seen by his comments in all these threads

Kazakhstan v. Ali G: Bad Humor http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showth...?t=7835&page=5

New York vs London http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19097

"Chav" Life in the UK http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10653

World's Best Train Stations http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21439


Prince Harry in NY http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21307

These are only a few I found but I'm sure there are more. I don't understand what his problem is but he obviously hates UK/London and therefore has nothing to contribute to this thread. In order to save people like Nick from leaving could he please stop posting as its unproductive and a little annoying. On the other hand if you have some updates please fire away.

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

The old architecture, and some of the new is impressive, but its what happens at street level that makes a city a city.



I guess I don't like to live in a city that is effectively ruled by corrupt ministers/speakers (look at the Labor scandal), police who wont be seen on the streets unless its to come out in riot gear to bash a newspaper man (Tomlinson), and aggressive charity workers.

Remember now, its just one man's opinion.

In case no one has told you, England is not a great empire, and its the centre of nothing. In 2005, the last great myth of England, the "great British shopkeeper", was exploded. As people realized the city was under attack that July, and walked home, stoically determined not to have their lives ruined, the great English shopkeepers put up the food and drink prices to cash in on the terror attacks and the streams of Londoners as they all walked home.

What you have to come to terms with is yourself, not me. England of 2009 is a small island who's natives cant wait to leave while it is being occupied by the third world. If you dont like it, fix it, dont try to blame us here for pointing that out.

An example post from City Data forums

"Places to avoid in London?"

"London."

PS Nick Taylor can look after himself. He is intent on scoring his schoolboy victories and proclaiming that only he is allowed to travel. He simply needs to learn his manners or realize that the world consists of more than English chav expats like him who go around proclaiming "EVERYTHOINGS SO CHOIP! ITS THE POUND YOU SEE?"

[Tim Rice]

All, please do not reply to the above post, or directly address him.

In time, that should do the trick.

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

Tim is correct.

Any observation of London here that isn't lily white is causing a violent reaction from the English here. They should learn a valuable lesson: How to respond to criticism, and only then maybe they will begin to tackle the issues on a rational, calm basis.

It is an interesting insight into an Old World culture, thats for sure. I hope that this brings about a bit of self reflection for once, instead of a flinching reaction.

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

All, please do not reply to the above post, or directly address him.

In time, that should do the trick.

Why dont you just send your friend James Bond.

Ill kick his ass.

[nick-taylor]

It would be more accurate to say that a few influential assholes in London have Skyline/penis envy. The same are screaming whenever Boris scotches some atrocity that IRA-loving, partner-slapping, defenestrating Livingston or Two-Jags Prescott rubber-stamped.

I don't understand what is this London skyline/penis envy?

In places like Dubai where the demand was non-existant, egos are clashing, land is cheap and construction prices are low - you get the likes of the Burj Dubai and a whole host of other concrete husks.

The problem with London is that demand far, far exceeds supply (even in the downturn), there is too much money on the line for egos to be involved, land is amongst the most expensive on the planet and construction costs are stratospheric. Just like Hong Kong, New York or Shanghai - there is a reason people build upwards.

With the population growing at around 100,000/year, a green-belt that restricts outward growth, sight lines that heavily restrict construction, suitable non-occupied land space (ie located close to public transport and facilities) at a premium and the most expensive land on the planet; how exactly do you propose developers are going to get a return on their money to even bother constructing homes/offices?

Take Clapham Junction - there is something like 60+ Central London bound trains each off-peak hour. That capacity probably puts it in the top 5 of transport nodes in the UK. By 2012 it will see the arrival of the East London Line Extension Phase II. This is a prime sight for massive development; yet we hold back because some locals are miffed that they are the only ones to have a right to such a ridiculously well served station on their doorstep? Willesden Junction, and Bermondsey Junction are another two sites where we should be concentrating other development to spread the loads around the central core.


You can say all you like about Livingstone, but at least he has supported London all his life (the mayoralty is meerly a possible attempt to oust Cameron), hasn't been involved in theft or assisted a convicted serial-fraudster to get a journalist 'silenced', had good relations abroad and at home (ie didn't exhibit the consistent cockups of Boris), didn't leave Londoners in the dark when it snowed - crippling the city, didn't get sacked by his own party over an affair, didn't get sacked by a leading paper for falsifying quotations, didn't attempt to politicise the police force or use his position as chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority to potentially undermine a police investigation involving a friend of his.

Never mind the fact that Boris tried to charge on his expenses a Remembrance Sunday wreath, when he gets £250k a year for writing a column in the Telegraph in addition to juggling his job and salary as mayor of arguably the worlds preeminent global city.

Perhaps your post was poorly timed, but it looks like another of Boris' deputies has gone in just over a year (contrast that under Livingstone's leadership of eight years where that list was down to one - the slimy Lee Jasper).

Cock-Ups Under Boris
James McGrath (Johnson's chief political adviser) - Racist comments
David Ross (Johnson's Olympics adviser) - Used shares worth £162mn as security against personal loans (also forced to resign from his company)
Ian Clement (Johnson's adviser on government and external relations) - Claimed dinners on expenses (ie Londoners money)...issue is that they were for a girl half his age, whom he was having an affair with
Ray Lewis (Johnson's young people adviser) - Fraudulently claimed to be a magistrate, financial irregularities and sexual harassment
Tim Parker (Johnson's chief of staff) - Resigned


Livingstone is probably one of the rudest people around, but as a politician he gets things done. Boris comes out with the jokes and Latin wit, but lacks the ability to get anything positive done (axing DLR extensions, or revenue generating operations, etc doesn't cut the mustard).

Ultimately it isn't jokes that cuts crime, make transport more bearable, or help with the property issue - its action.





A few pictures have been shown a few pages back for the development at Loampit Vale, but the below picture gives a better overview of the development which is quite sizable.

Located adjacent to the Lewisham National Rail & DLR station, and fenced in by railway lines (South Eastern Main Line to the left, North Kent and Bexleyheath lines to the right).

This development has excellent connections, thanks in part to Lewisham station being connected directly to the West End, Square Mile, Canary Wharf and Stratford. Currently 30,000 pass through the station each day, but with Thameslink and other future transport projects other developments are expected to shoot up in the surrounding area. There is a rather rough industrial estate shoe-horned where the two previously mentioned lines converge that would be ripe for development come the next up-turn.






Science Museum Development

A stunning project for the Science Museum by Wilkinson Eyre

Designs to pull the UK home of technology into the 21st century
Plans revealed for the redesign of the ‘faceless’ Science Museum on London’s Exhibition Road are to recreate the space as a ‘Museum of the Future’, aiming for completion by 2015.

As part of a wider regeneration of the Exhibition Road revitalisation as the ‘cultural heartland of London’, the Science Museum will undertake a redevelopment designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects which incorporates a new facade, new galleries, lifts and SkySpace - a cavernous rooftop space and 'destination cafe' dedicated to cosmology.



“I really like the concept that there’s so much going on in the museum that they’re kind of fighting to get out,” says Paul Baker, Wilkinson Eyre Director and architect for the project. He is describing the Beacon, the glass and light façade set to burst out from within the existing columned entrance. Acting like a lighthouse for the Museum, the Beacon will allow the building to be acknowledged from either end of Exhibition Road and create an entrance to inspire and excite visitors. Its underbelly will act as a screen entertaining and enticing visitors.

The redesign is an extension of the partnership between Wilkinson Eyre and the Museum which has developed over the past 15 years as they have collaborated on the ‘Museum of the Future’ framework devised to bring the museum through into its centenary year. “We’ve enjoyed working with Wilkinson Eyre in the past as they are one of those firms that work in a space between art and technology,” says the Museum's Head of Creative Direction, Tim Molloy. “They bring a vivacity to engineering which we very much enjoy.”



The redesign celebrates the Museum’s centenary year and is seen as an opportunity to pull the museum into the 21st century. Molloy explains that it is also a chance to change perspectives: “We’ve always been known as a museum that’s interactive, really for the last 100 years. Where you can see things as well as do things. That’s something that has been commonly misinterpreted as being about kids...that’s something we want to change to show that it’s about creating conversation.”



On a functional level, the new design will resolve acknowledged movement issues upon entering and within the building. “The building is made up of a long thin sequence of spaces culminating in the welcome wing. The idea was that we created some visual identity between floors. As you go deeper into the building you kind of lose the identity of the different floors,” said Baker noting that the visitor tends to work across the ground floor. “The way we worked here is we made a computer model of the building. We looked at the shapes and relationships all down the building and worked out how we could manipulate them.”

Part of this manipulation is the inclusion of three new lifts which encourage upward circulation. The entrance will also be opened up with multiple entrances reducing the bottleneck effect previously suffered.



The project will be progressed through several stages commencing with the creation of the Beacon and culminating in SkySpace which will commence circa 2013. Before these works can commence, however, the big push is on gaining funding for the project. Molloy advises that despite current economics, he is confident about this challenge: “I’m always very positive about recessions. I think a period of restraint is very good for creativity. It allows you to reflect and allows us to be future focused…One of the things to guide us out is science and technology and we are confident that this is something that people will invest in.”

Niki May Young
News Editor

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=11762

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

Can I just thank Nick Taylor, Zupermaus, London lad, Wfox etc for their great contributions. I have signed on to say that this is by far the most exciting thread and London's projects are just amazing. The City seems to be improving so rapidly.

I really hope Greg's comments don't stop you from continuing your amazing updates. He seems to have a problem with English people as seen by his comments in all these threads

Kazakhstan v. Ali G: Bad Humor http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showth...?t=7835&page=5

New York vs London http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19097

"Chav" Life in the UK http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10653

World's Best Train Stations http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21439


Prince Harry in NY http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21307

These are only a few I found but I'm sure there are more. I don't understand what his problem is but he obviously hates UK/London and therefore has nothing to contribute to this thread. In order to save people like Nick from leaving could he please stop posting as its unproductive and a little annoying. On the other hand if you have some updates please fire away.

You joined Wired New York to say this?

I challenge you to work together with your fellow countrymen and build ONE decent fast food chain OR one seaworthy blue water operations aircraft carrier for your next colonial Suez/Falklands like war.

See you in 20 years, and be sure to let us know which one you get built first.

Dont like that? Send James Bond over, Ill kick his ass. Except Roger who Ive met, hes a cool dude.

GT

PS "The City seems to be improving so rapidly."

What Fking City? Its a freaking monstrosity

Dont like that? Send James Bond over, Ill kick his ass.

[zupermaus]

Squire & Partners current scheme in Islington area:

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

Can I just thank Nick Taylor, Zupermaus, London lad, Wfox etc for their great contributions. I have signed on to say that this is by far the most exciting thread and London's projects are just amazing. The City seems to be improving so rapidly.

I really hope Greg's comments don't stop you from continuing your amazing updates. He seems to have a problem with English people as seen by his comments in all these threads

Kazakhstan v. Ali G: Bad Humor http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showth...?t=7835&page=5

New York vs London http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19097

"Chav" Life in the UK http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10653

World's Best Train Stations http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21439


Prince Harry in NY http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21307

These are only a few I found but I'm sure there are more. I don't understand what his problem is but he obviously hates UK/London and therefore has nothing to contribute to this thread. In order to save people like Nick from leaving could he please stop posting as its unproductive and a little annoying. On the other hand if you have some updates please fire away.

You joined WNY to post this?

How many friends does Nick Taylor need to salvage his honor?

Why not just send James Bond here, Ill kick his ass. Except Roger, met him, I would probably have a drink with him.

[zupermaus]

Olympic legacy chief: Keep 80,000-seat stadium for World Cup bid
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent
25.06.09

The woman who has the job of creating a legacy for the Olympic Park is to propose a shake-up of the plans for the main stadium.

As the newly appointed head of the Olympic legacy company, Margaret Ford signalled a likely U-turn by saying the venue should keep its 80,000 seats rather than being reduced to 25,000 after the 2012 Olympic Games.

She raised the prospect of the stadium hosting matches at the 2018 World Cup as part of an “iconic offer for London” if England's bid for the event is successful.

Baroness Ford, an urban regeneration expert who became chairwoman of London Partnership in 2002 and took the Millennium Dome off the taxpayers' hands by selling it to AEG, said she was convinced the “beautiful” stadium could pay its way as an all-year “visitor attraction”.

The mother of three from Edinburgh, who was made a Labour peer in 2006, is said by former colleagues to “know in her bones how the public-sector machine works”.

In another departure from the venue's original post-2012 proposals, she looks set to scrap plans to build a specialist sports school in the stadium.

In her first interview in the new role, she said: “I'd like to think about what we can do in terms of a really strong visitor attraction to the park. At the moment that doesn't quite sing out to me from the masterplanning that's been done with the stadium in particular.”

Lady Ford, 51, began work a month ago as the £95,000-a-year chair of the soon-to-be-formed Olympic legacy company and is answerable to the Mayor and the Government. Working with her American chief executive, Andrew Altman, she will be a key player in realising the wider ambitions of the Olympics.

Among her main tasks will be to sell land to recoup about £600 million spent by the London Development Agency on buying the 600-hectare Olympic site, effectively returning the proceeds to the taxpayer over a 30-year period.

She added: “People you talk to say that what is needed is a much stronger sporting legacy there and I want to work very closely so that what we leave there is a knockout sporting legacy. There's a lot of work to be done around how we use the facilities.

“For example there's no accommodation for elite athletes who want to come to the park and train. The Lea Valley Regional Authority (neighbouring the Olympic Park) has done a great partnership with the Youth Hostel Association which is absolutely perfect.”










2006:



2009:

[newcastle kid]

You joined WNY to post this?

How many friends does Nick Taylor need to salvage his honor?

Why not just send James Bond here, Ill kick his ass. Except Roger, met him, I would probably have a drink with him.

I've got to say, I'm surprised the mods on the boards don't ban this guy.

He just seems to repeat the same insults continuously and posts crap like this:

"Why not just send James Bond here, Ill kick his ass."

over and over and over again. He's the very definition of a troll, especially over the last page. He's trying to ruin a thread that is about London's developments, and for the British forumers who come here it isn't particularly nice to have to read his BS all the time.

Anyway, more cladding on the Heron Tower:

pics by Nihil Dicit here

Apparently, the first tower crane will be going up on the Shard site in September/October.

And the first tower crane has gone up on the 3-tower residential Richard Rogers scheme by Tate Modern:

[mtj73]

Tim is correct.

Any observation of London here that isn't lily white is causing a violent reaction from the English here. They should learn a valuable lesson: How to respond to criticism, and only then maybe they will begin to tackle the issues on a rational, calm basis.

It is an interesting insight into an Old World culture, thats for sure. I hope that this brings about a bit of self reflection for once, instead of a flinching reaction.

Well summer is here, why don't you ask your parents if they will take you to London for a couple of weeks. You may find it's not as bad as you think, your criticism should become more constructive and the reaction to it a little more palatable.

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

Well summer is here, why don't you ask your parents if they will take you to London for a couple of weeks. You may find it's not as bad as you think, your criticism should become more constructive and the reaction to it a little more palatable.

Haha, who in the world chooses to go to London for a holiday? I have made that error, and on every occasion, it was underwhelming.

Besides, whats there to see except the famous Met police busily bashing native Londoners over the head anyway, the wonders of a lack of literacy in the modern world (1/5 English people being illiterate. source: BBC 1999) the effects of pretty disastrous town planning mixed with a dose of penis envy (as shown here in this thread) and stolen artifacts from Ancient Greece.



Thanks, but no thanks.

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

I've got to say, I'm surprised the mods on the boards don't ban this guy.

Why?

He just seems to repeat the same insults continuously and posts crap like this:

"Why not just send James Bond here, Ill kick his ass."

No, thats the entertainment part. You forgot to read the opinion part of my post.

He's trying to ruin a thread that is about London's developments, and for the British forumers who come here it isn't particularly nice to have to read his BS all the time.

Then go and watch the Royle Family and start to reflect upon your culture a little bit. And your city skyline. I happen to think that it sucks. When the Hong Kong skyline sharts, something like Singapore comes out, and when that sharts, something like London comes out. See?

I try to study and observe and comment on it and its fascinating to watch the post-Empire death throes of the English as they struggle to find identity in a world that just seems to pile on them more and more every day.

How about breaking the mold? Ever heard of optimism?

[Gregory Tenenbaum]

Your right.

Yes, it is your right.

I guess the BBC report was correct after all.