Lloyd's of London, or the "inside-out building" is the formal name of the odd looking office block in the City of London normally full of insurance broking suits and other corporate guffers. It received Grade 1 listing status in 2011 just 15 years after construction, although I personally prefer the look of the old East India House that once stood on the site.
I think I like it, although I'm not entirely sure to be honest. There's no denying that it's a fairly special design, with the normal internal services like ducting, ventilation and lifts being placed on the exterior of the building. I've taken numerous photos of it from the street on random architecture walks I used to go on when I lived nearby, and I've always been curious about what it would be like on the roof.
(what it looks like in Lego)
The first photos I saw were from AndrewB and Dicky back in 2012, but until recently I'd only ever seen it from other buildings and cranes as I always seemed to miss my opportunity in getting on top of it. Scaffolding would come and go, and laziness would mean I was never that end of town and in the mood for a rooftop.
I headed out one night with Gabe, our minds set on a couple of rooftops that'd previously escaped us. The first place didn't pan out, so we busted over towards the City to take a gander at the state of affairs here. We spied a cheeky corner that would get us straight onto the scaffold, and within minutes we were up and away, chasing ladder after ladder until we popped out on one of the lower roofs.
It's a nice location, and standing at only 95m (floor to crane) means it's a decent viewpoint of the taller buildings around you, with the Leadenhall Building (224m), 30 St Mary Axe (180m), Tower 42 (182m) and 20 Fenchurch (160m) surrounding it like proud older brothers.
However, as well as having a nice view to look up to, the building also offers some great angles on the architecture it holds within. I've never been inside the Lloyd's building, so looking down on the "underwriting room" below with it's symmetrical design is a fairly impressive sight.
What also proved to be quite an interesting angle was the view from the crane structures down towards the street below. It allowed a contrast between the sterile glass buildings in the immediate vicinity against the reflective and glossy metal infrastructure that makes up Lloyds.
I revisited a couple of weeks later with bothknees, and chilled out on the top drinking some cans. After already taking some photos the time before it was enjoyable to just explore the roof and look at the weird intricacies that make up the building. The bits and pieces that you can't see from the street, or make out properly from far away.
I still kind of think the building is lost in the chaos of the city around it. And its almost extroverted attitude makes it stick out amongst the hoards of glass abominations that litter the cluttered streets nearby. It's quite a nice touch that 20 Fenchurch blocks you from the sight of the Shard, but we won't mention that guy.
It's almost like someone went to town with a giant Meccano set, and just went nuts until they'd run out of pieces to attach. Borrowing some Lego cranes to fix on top of any spare area of roof. In fact, the replica that's housed in Mini Town at Legoland is pretty bob on with how it looks, and I now want to be the guy who makes the world's landmarks out of Lego for their displays.
Italian born architect Richard Rogers designed both the Lloyd's building and the Pompidou centre in Paris. That also features the main service parts of the building being built on the exterior, although that building serves the community as a library and arts centre as opposed to a bunch of underwriters and insurance brokers who only live to serve themselves.
I think I'm getting too cynical in my age.
