The Walkie-Talkie and the unforeseen benefits of the ‘laser-death-ray’
When ‘the Walkie-Talkie’ (20 Fenchurch Street) was built, it achieved an unfortunate unforeseen trick, causing much enjoyment for those not affected – the curvature on its south facing elevation was so perfectly shaped to cause a concentration of reflected sunlight on the street below that it was capable of melting parked cars.
Like something out of a Marvel comic, the building had its very own ‘laser-death-ray’, much to the interest of most people (aside from the owner of the below parked Jaguar).
The result was that the building had to be retrospectively applied with shading ‘fins’ (as pictured) in order to stop this phenomenon, much to the disappointment of many (presumably including those involved in financing the build).
However, whilst that unforeseen may have seemed at that stage like a major downfall in the design of the building (presumably with ramifications for those involved), the upshot may now be far more positive.
The property contains over 600,000 sq.ft. of let office space. With commercial leases falling under the requirements of the ‘MEES Regulations’ in England and Wales, this requires the building to achieve the ‘minimum standard’ as set out in the regulations; this is currently an EPC of ‘E’, but is planned to rise to a ‘C’ in 2027 and then a ‘B’ in 2030.
On the face of it, this is not a problem currently for the ‘Walkie-Talkie’, given it already has a registered rating of ‘B(44)’. One significant factor in this rating, however, is the presence of the shading fins; without the fins, the assumed demand for air-conditioning would be far higher – particularly given this is on the south-facing elevation.
Whilst the building undoubtedly will otherwise have many elements providing for this good rating, it is highly possible that without the fins, the rating would not have achieved this B-rating and – instead – the landlord in question would be facing a need to retrospectively improve this asset’s EPC by 2030.
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Contact our team to arrange a call or seek a quote for a draft EPC.
epc@mobiusbc.co.uk
020 3355 1500
