Report - South Bank Tower (Formerly Kings Reach Tower) - August 2013.

Ojay · Sep 19, 2013

South Bank Tower (Formerly Kings Reach Tower)

(shamelessly stolen pix)

Constructed in 1972, and designed by the late Richard Seifert, King's Reach Tower was once the headquarters of IPC Media, one of the largest publishing companies in Europe

A Brutalist style building that was common at the time of its construction and almost identical to Tower 42, which was also designed by the same architect

As of 2013, the tower is undergoing a major re-development, now known as 'South Bank Tower'

The plans include an extension of the tower taking it to 509ft
Love it or hate it, this place is here to stay and of course it will be the tallest building on the Southbank, that is unless One Blackfriars ever materialises.. :popcorn

Never before in this country has an existing building been extended in such fashion, soon every developer with a clapped-out 1970's office building in a central location will be doing the maths too

I've been here before, but this time it was much better and far more memorable, suffice to say 4 weeks on and I'm still paying for the experience, Man Flu ™ Chest Infection & Tonsillitis FTW :rolleyes:

Massive props to dicky21 & AndrewB for a comedy evening all round, beach ball will never be the same again

Shame 'pint pot tower' never topped out..

The weather was dire, I'm not exaggerating but when dicky said we were kayaking he wasn't kidding (just not up a crane)

As we headed over to the South Bank it dawned on me how much I'd had to drink, but looking up at the newly installed TC, I soon realised a job needed doing and there was to be no fucking about here regardless

Locked up, the crane had been fully erected 24 hours if that and we were now stood on top of it

Soaked to the skin we took refuge inside the cab

Dicky decided to brave the storm whilst we remained in the cab watching the wind speed creep up, needless to say it wasn't long before he legged it back in

I headed out and took this 1 shit pic as I wasn't feeling it, and promptly shot back into the cab..

Having realised I may not get the opportunity to get back up here any time soon, I scrounged B's tripod wiped my lens and headed back out into the worst weather imaginable to attempt a few more pics

Cold, pissed & knackered I did my best, fortunately the trusty Sigma excelled itself from evading the rain drops (mostly)