#lloydsbuilding

Alex Smithsonalexsmithson
2025-09-11

The calm under the atmospheric zephyr in Lime Street during the spring season helped me unwind and enjoy the relaxing day out.

asterisk15.wordpress.com/2025/

Itโ€™s the #lloydsbuilding and itโ€™s never gets old exterior made from old rubber hoses, milk bottle tops and spray painted happy meals cups

#cityoflondon #london #tourists #streetphotography
2025-02-02
A striking low-angle view of two contrasting London skyscrapersโ€”the curved glass facade of the Leadenhall Building (Cheesegrater) on the left and the industrial, pipe-covered exterior of the Lloyd's Building on the right. The deep blue sky enhances the futuristic and architectural contrast.

Buy This: https://www.beitmenotyou.online/images/021788330-london-16

#London #Skyscrapers #Architecture #FuturisticDesign #LloydsBuilding #LeadenhallBuilding #UrbanLandscape #ModernVsIndustrial #Cityscape #SteelAndGlass
A striking low-angle view of two contrasting London skyscrapersโ€”the curved glass facade of the Leadenhall Building (Cheesegrater) on the left and the industrial, pipe-covered exterior of the Lloyd's Building on the right. The deep blue sky enhances the futuristic and architectural contrast.
2025-01-04
This is a striking upward view of the Lloyd's Building in London, showcasing its futuristic design with exposed metallic pipes and cylindrical structures. The building's golden hues contrast with the modern glass panels of a neighbouring structure, creating a dynamic urban composition against a pale sky.

#LloydsBuilding #HighTechArchitecture #FuturisticDesign #UrbanLandscapes #ModernArchitecture #IndustrialAesthetic #CityscapePhotography #LondonLandmarks #ArchitecturalInnovation
This is a striking upward view of the Lloyd's Building in London, showcasing its futuristic design with exposed metallic pipes and cylindrical structures. The building's golden hues contrast with the modern glass panels of a neighbouring structure, creating a dynamic urban composition against a pale sky.
๐•ฎ๐–๐–—๐–Ž๐–˜๐–™๐–Ž๐–“๐–† ๐–›๐–”๐–“ ๐–‚๐–Š๐–‘๐–‘๐–Š๐–†๐–“sugarfuel
2023-08-14
๐•ฎ๐–๐–—๐–Ž๐–˜๐–™๐–Ž๐–“๐–† ๐–›๐–”๐–“ ๐–‚๐–Š๐–‘๐–‘๐–Š๐–†๐–“sugarfuel
2023-08-11
Modernism in Metro-Landmodinmetro@mastodonapp.uk
2023-07-20

Lloyds Building, Lime Street

1978-86

Richard Rogers Partnership

#modernism #hightech #modernistlondon #richardrogers #lloydsbuilding #1980s #steel #London #architecture #design

Colour photograph of the Lloyds building in Lime street, London
Keith Bradnam ๐Ÿ“ธkbradnam@pixey.org
2023-01-18
Lloydโ€™s building in London with glimpses of the #Gherkin and #Scalpel buildings in the background.

#London #Architecture #Lloyds #LloydsBuilding
Gareth Morgan โ˜•๏ธgartmor
2022-11-28

The Lloyds Building, London is just fantastic. It's just calling out to be photographed.

"London is unique in being partly controlled by views," says Richard Rogers

In the fourth exclusive interview that we filmed with Richard Rogers in 2013, the late architect explains the shape of the Leadenhall building and how it was designed to complement London's diverse skyline.

The interview forms part of a series filmed by Dezeen in 2013, which marked a retrospective of the architect's work at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Rogers, who passed away on 18 December aged 88, was one of the world's most acclaimed architects and a key pioneer of the high-tech architecture style that emerged in the 1970s.

Among his most notable work is the Leadenhall building, an east London office skyscraper completed in 2013 that is known as "the Cheesegrater" due to its slanting, wedge-shaped structure.

It stands opposite the high-tech Lloyd's building, which was completed by the architect in 1986.

During this interview, filmed at the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners studio in Hammersmith, Rogers explained the reasons for designing the Leadenhall building so that it is integrated with its surrounding architecture and the challenges involved in attempting to create an interesting-looking office building.

"I think it's really exciting to see the dialogue between Lloyd's of London, Leadenhall and of course, the dome of St Paul's in the background of a totally different period," recalled Rogers.

Read on for a transcript of the interview below:

"Leadenhall office building, which is the tallest building in the city of London, is again a different animal. First of all, it's an office building.

"And that says, as I mentioned, it tends to be very boring. One of the arts of architecture is not only to humanise it, as I mentioned, but also how to use the constraints.

"And in a way, turn them upside down and see whether that can help you to design the building. The main constraints on Leadenhall were the views to St Paul's.

"London is unique in being partly controlled by views. So you have these big cuts, and you have to leave certain views open to St Paul's, and we were on one of those views.

The Leadenhall building has been dubbed "the Cheesegrater"

"Then the only way to build a tall building was to slope out of that. Now you could step out of it, you could cut it shorter, and so on. So we made use of this, and we cut it back โ€“ the Cheesegrater as it's now called โ€“ at an angle.

"And that gives it that very prominent section, and profile for all over London. We also had a client again, which we got on with very well with, British Land, who are willing to have a seven storey atrium, it's not enclosed. So probably you could call it a seven-storey public space below the building.

"The building itself expresses its system of construction because again, we celebrate construction because it's one of the things in which we get scale. And scale is a critical part.

"I mean, architecture is about scale, it is about rhythm, it's about geometry. It's obviously about beauty. These are all these elements and scale, which is really the size of the hand on whatever you do, is how you recognise size as well as light and shadow.

[

Read:

Rogers Stirk Harbour unveils own studio inside its recently completed Leadenhall Building

](https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/19/rogers-stirk-harbour-partners-architecture-studio-office-interiors-news-leadenhall-building-cheesegrater-london-uk/)

"It's got 50 storeys. So how you break it down into the scale is critical.

"What's interesting for me in Leadenhall is that whereas we thought Lloyd's was the absolute ultimate and the art of technology, when I look at it now it's handmade practically.

"Now we had pieces taken by truck off-site and so on. Leadenhall was all built off-site, I mean it arrived completely. The structure is less visible because in a sense, it's less important, we're more used to it, the shape is very important, the public space is very important. You can see the wonderful banks of elevators on the backside.

"So the elements which we have got to know well we are using. They're losing a lot of, obviously, flexibility. So we're using that but in a way, which more or less 40 years later than then probably which is very much machine-made.

Lloyd's building is an example of high-tech architecture

"So what the next one will probably be even more, well it will be even more. And it's very exciting to see that dialogue between these two. And actually, I think it's really exciting to see the dialogue between Lloyd's of London, Leadenhall and of course, the dome of St Paul's in the background of a totally different period.

"To me, that's what architecture is about. It's not about fitting it in, as the last building. It's setting up these dialogues. You know, the enjoyment of St Paul's was that it was seen against a very low and rather poor mediaeval background. That was for flourish.

"That's the same as any form of architecture. So it's a dialogue. It's a beauty that comes through contrast."

The post "London is unique in being partly controlled by views," says Richard Rogers appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #architecture #videos #richardrogers #videosbydezeen #architecturevideos #theleadenhallbuilding #cheesegrater #lloydsbuilding

imageCheesegrater buildingThe Leadenhall Building

"We were attacked by everybody" when the Lloyd's building opened, recalls Richard Rogers

In the third of the video Dezeen interviews filmed with Richard Rogers in 2013, the late architect discussed the Lloyd's building in London and the backlash prompted by its radical design.

Rogers, who passed away on 18 December aged 88, spoke to Dezeen to coincide with a retrospective of his work at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

He was one of the world's best-known architects, famous for his pioneering high-tech architecture.

Among his most recognisable work is the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which he designed together with Renzo Piano. Following the completion of that controversial building, Rogers struggled to find work until landing the commission to design the Lloyd's building in London.

In this interview, filmed at the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners office in Hammersmith, west London, he discussed how he convinced the conservative insurance firm to go for an inside-out design that was equally as radical as the Centre Pompidou.

"We were able to convince Lloyd's that we would put the mechanical services on the outside because mechanical services have a short life," he said.

The building proved just as divisive as its forerunner in Paris. "Once more we were attacked by everybody," Rogers said.

Read on for a transcript of the interview:

"We took about seven years to build the Pompidou Centre. We had a lot of political problems, we were taken to court regularly, for things like there was a law saying that foreigners can't do cultural buildings for France โ€“ a law which had been designed under the fascist period and no-one had bothered undoing.

"So we had lots of problems, so it took a long time. And the only good thing I suppose โ€“ or one of the good things โ€“ was that Renzo and I, being in our thirties, were very naive and we didn't realise it was really impossible, so we went on and did it.

"But at the end of it, there was no other work. Nobody wanted another Pompidou Centre. Now, the fact that we thought we could do other things didn't seem to come across.

"I went to teach in the States, in LA and at Yale. My closest partner, John Young, became a taxi driver and Renzo set up a small firm in France and had a tiny bit of work. I didn't really want to teach, I have to tell you.

The only piece of technology was a Xerox machine

"But then there was a competition for Lloyd's of London. Lloyd's had one person on the board who had heard of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

"For once the Royal Institute of British Architects had a very good president โ€“ I'm obviously biased, as we won that competition โ€“ and advised Lloyd's about us and five other people like Norman Foster, IM Pei, and so on.

"We had this competition and to everybody's surprise, we won it.

"Now it is truly different, everything's different. I mean, if we were building more-or-less a fun palace in Paris, this is a club.

"Lloyd's started in a coffee house in 1760-something where financiers met sailors, captains of boats, and they did transactions.

"So it's as traditional as you can [get]. You know, the only piece of technology when we went to see the [previous] Lloyd's building was the Xerox machine. Some people were still writing with feathers and ink.

[

Read:

Richard Rogers' top 10 architecture projects

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/12/19/richard-rogers-architecture-projects-top-10/)

"It was backward only in the process. Of course, it was the most famous insurance firm in the world, so there was a very cutting edge element within that.

"But we were certainly very strange people, or you may say, very strange bedfellows, for Lloyd's. And here Lloyd's really was a grey, black โ€“ bit of light grey, maybe โ€“ organisation. I mean everybody wore it, the buildings were like it and so on.

"We were again extremely fortunate, the same way as on Pompidou. The real critical thing in architecture is having a good client.

"A good client is not someone who says 'yes'. It's a client who is engaged in the evolution of the building, who responds, and it's better to have 'no' because you can probably find another way of doing it, writing it, shooting it, whatever your art is.

"The really difficult one is, 'well, I'll leave it to you, I don't care' and then at the end, it says 'no'.

"So here, we were heavily engaged. We spent half a day every month with the whole board of Lloyd's to discuss every part of it.

The Lloyd's of London building was completed in 1986

"We were able to convince Lloyd's that we would put the mechanical services on the outside because mechanical services have a short life. In other words, it's like the engines of a car.

"And the buildings have hundreds of years of life, the streets have thousands of years. It's the medieval streets, the streets now that are there are the medieval streets.

"Things which have a short life, we'll put on the outside. Keep the floors clear, because Lloyd's said they wanted two things: they wanted a building that would last into the next century, we made that one, and they wanted a building that would meet their changing needs.

"So then they produce lots of graphs to show the changing needs, and of course, the moment we finished Lloyd's there's London's big economic crisis.

"And London was about to fly to Frankfurt, and I remember well everybody discussing, including Lloyd's, whether they should move to Frankfurt.

"Frankfurt was going to be the business capital of Europe. It's very interesting to think because today London is so clearly the business capital of Europe, and probably of the world, apart from maybe New York.

I have no great love for high-tech, but it did explain something

"So we were dealing with people who knew about change, knew about risk, but hadn't a clue about art.

"The ducts, the pieces on the outside, allowed us to play a game with light and shadow. We were able to create a fifth elevation, a roof, and bring these big service towers up so that on the skyline you saw these elements.

"You know, I have no great love for high-tech, but it did explain something: we do believe in the process of construction.

"Lloyd's is built in concrete, with a certain amount of steel on the outside, and Pompidou is built in steel. And we've just finished an airport in Madrid, where the interiors is wood.

"I suppose one would like to think one uses the appropriate materials, but of course, appropriate materials are also shaped by the time you live in, where you live, shaped by the machine you yourselves are using here.

"You know when you're looking for the beauty of cameras, when you look at the beauty of watches, and so on, this certainly influences you.

[

Read:

Lloyd's building in London to undergo "once-in-a-generation" overhaul

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/08/17/lloyds-building-london-overhaul-high-tech-richard-rogers/)

"The same thing happened in the 15th century. You were influenced by what was happening at that time with perspective, which was invented in the 14th century, that clearly influenced the way that buildings were designed.

"So we use the technology of today, and the technology of yesterday when it's appropriate, to build the buildings of today.

"We thought Lloyd's was the absolute ultimate in the art of technology. When I look at it now it's handmade practically.

"Then people say, well, it's technology, and therefore it's a high-tech building. It's a bit too easy, but it's okay.

"We managed to persuade Lloyd's, and Lloyd's persuaded us, in such a way that we moved very well together.

It was the second major building by Rogers after the Centre Pompidou. Photo is courtesy of Richard Bryant

"The other unspoken hero, which I should say, which is Peter Rice, who joined us on the Pompidou, who was a brilliant engineer from Arup, and he guided us as a philosopher, as well as a technologist and engineer as he was.

"He was Irish, and had clearly kissed the Blarney Stone and could persuade us in the most wonderful and quiet way.

"We worked so well with him. Unfortunately, he died of cancer. He was a terrific guy.

"Anyhow, once more we were attacked by everybody. A year before the end, a bit like the Beaubourg, a year before the end of the building there was an investigation by the Bank of England into what was going on at Lloyd's.

"So the chairman, everybody else, had to resign. The next chairman hated us, so we had a very tough last year.

He said: 'Do you feel beleaguered?'

"The only perhaps worthwhile storytelling [is] that when Lloyd's opened โ€“ the Queen opened it of course โ€“ and I sat next to the dean of St Paul's and he said, I remember him very well, he said: 'Do you feel beleaguered?'

"A word I now remember well. I said: 'Yes, I'm being attacked on all sides, with the press, and so on.' And he told me this little story about Wren which I think we should all remember.

"He said Wren was in his seventies when he, at last, got St Paul's built. He'd started 30 years beforehand.

"He was so tired of having his building attacked and turned down that by the time he got to building St Paul's he put a 20-foot wattle fence all around the site so nobody can see it.

"So even St Paul's was a shock of the new. We think it's there forever. Certainly, Prince Charles thinks it's been there forever, but it hasn't. And it was a risky building to do in those times, which is why it is great."

The post "We were attacked by everybody" when the Lloyd's building opened, recalls Richard Rogers appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #architecture #videos #richardrogers #videosbydezeen #lloydsbuilding

imageRichard RogersLloyds Building by Richard Rogers

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