When you look across the impressive London skyline there are a number of iconic buildings you are bound to see; The Shard, Salesforce Tower and 20 Fenchurch Street just to name a few. Many of us are familiar with these buildings but did you know Calco has played a part in the construction, delivery and maintenance of these buildings and projects?
Calco has been in the construction, property and engineering recruitment industry for over three decades and has placed highly-skilled and extremely talented professionals on a huge number of projects in and around London, as well as across the UK!
20 Fenchurch Street:
Located in the City of London's financial district you can find the commercial skyscraper 20 Fenchurch Street. This distinctive building is also referred to as 'The Walkie-Talkie', this is because of its unique shape. 20 Fenchurch Street, designed by the architect Rafael Viñoly has a top-heavy design, this is where the nickname 'The Walkie-Talkie' stems from. The construction of 20 Fenchurch Street started back in 2009 and the completion date was in August 2014, the cost of this project was in the region of £200m. The building itself is made up of 34 floors at a height of 160m (525ft), making it the 12th tallest building in London. Floors 34-37 of 20 Fenchurch Street consist of a bar, restaurants, viewing deck and the 'sky garden', which gives you breath-taking views across the impressive London skyline!
Barbican Centre:
The Barbican Centre – who proudly holds the title of being the largest performing arts centre in Europe – can be found in the city of London, more specifically in the heart of the Barbican Estate. . This complex was designed by Chamberlain, Powell and Bon and was opened by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth on March 3rd 1982. At the time the Queen was quoted to say that The Barbican Centre was 'one of the modern wonders of the world'. The Barbican was designed in a Brutalist style, a style most prolific during 1950-70. The cost of this project was of £156m at the time of construction, since its official opening there have been a number of extensive redevelopment schemes carried out on the Barbican increasing this original construction cost by a significant amount.
Bulgari Hotel:
The Bulgari Hotel is located in the heart of Knightsbridge, on the edge of Hyde Park. This lavish hotel was opened in 2012, the launch date was set so that works would be completed in time for the London Olympics held that same year. As well as the 85 rooms and suites the hotel also houses a cigar shop, swimming pool, spa, ballroom, cinema, restaurant and to top it off a roof garden! This exquisite hotel was designed by Antoni Citterio, Patricia Viel & Partners. The overall cost of this project is in the sum of £350m.
Canary Wharf Estate:
Canary Wharf Estate is located in Tower Hamlets, East London and is a major business district home to a number of European headquarters including major media organisations and banks. It is one of the two main financial districts in London, the other being the City of London. The Canary Wharf Estate is predominantly made up of office and retail space. In 2014 planning permission for the first residential development was approved with work on this project scheduled to be complete by the end of 2018.
199 Knightsbridge Apartments:
In the highly desirable postal code of Knightsbridge, opposite the Bulgari Hotel you can find the Knightsbridge Apartments. These extremely high-end residential estate consists of 205 units made up of Mews Houses, luxury apartments and penthouses. As well as the impressive residencies also included in this estate is a communal garden square, spa, swimming pool and 3 levels of underground private parking for its residents. The construction of these prestigious apartments began in 2002 with works being complete in 2005 at a cost of $195m.
Salesforce Tower:
The Heron Tower (name later changed to 110 Bishopsgate) can be found in Bishopsgate and is the tallest building in the City of London's financial district standing at an impressive height of 755ft! Work started on this project in 2007 and was completed in 2011. This is a commercial skyscraper designed by the American architectural firm Kohn Pederson Fox. The primary use of the building being office space but it also offers dining and bar options open to the public, as well as this the Heron Tower is the home of Europe's largest privately owned aquarium containing 1,200 fish!
London Bridge Station:
London Bridge Station is a nine terminal railway station located in Central London. This station is the oldest functioning railway station in the world, being opened back in December 1836. In summer 2011 planning applications where accepted by London Borough of Southwark to go ahead with the redevelopment of the station. This redevelopment project involves creating new platforms and increasing the size of the station, the intention being to increase passenger and rail capacity improving the overall functionality of the station. These works are scheduled to be complete in 2018 at an estimated cost of £6.5bn.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium:
This sporting complex located East of the City was built for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic games, encompassing an Olympic Village, Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre and a Media Centre. This project involved over 80,000 workers with the cost of the Olympic Stadium alone at £537m! After the Olympic Games where finished work started on a transformation project on the site at a cost of £292m, this included work on the Olympic Village being converted into a residential district now called East Village. Since the games the Stadium itself has been used to host a number of high-profile concerts and is now the new home to West Ham United Football Club. Although a vast number of changes have been made since its original opening back in 2012, there is still a lot of redevelopment work scheduled to continue to regenerate and improve this site.
The Shard:
This impressive Skyscraper is located in Southwark in the London Bridge Quarter development, standing proud at 1,016 ft high the Shard is the tallest building in the UK and Europe and is the 87th tallest in the world! Construction on this project began in March 2009 with final works completed in November 2012. The project was designed by the Italian architect and engineer Renzo Piano at a cost of £1.2bn. The building is covered in 11,000 panes of glass, this is where the name 'the Shard' come from! 95% of the materials used to build the Shard are recycled along with 20% of the steelworks used also being recycled. The building itself is made up of 72 habitable floors including restaurants, a hotel, offices, viewing decks and residences, some on offer for a staggering £50m!
Westfield Stratford and White City:
Westfield Stratford and White City are shopping centres located in London. The White City shopping centre was opened in October 2008 at a cost of £1.6bn with the Stratford centre being opened in September 2011 at a cost of £1.4bn. Both sites boast an impressive selection of shops and restaurants spread over a vast floor space as well as cinemas, hotels and leisure facilities. Westfield Stratford holds the title of being the 3rd biggest shopping centre in the United Kingdom! The Westfield Stratford site is located close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and is part of Stratford City, a large development project. Westfield White City can be found in the White City district development project in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
