page_title: 20 Fenchurch Street
section_title: Previous building
hierarchical_section_title: 20 Fenchurch Street / Previous building
caption_attribution_description: English: 20 Fenchurch Street seen from the Monument to the Great Fire of London. Photograph by Artybrad.
context_page_description: 20 Fenchurch Street is a commercial skyscraper in London that takes its name from its address on Fenchurch Street, in the historic City of London financial district. It has been nicknamed 'The Walkie-Talkie' because of its distinctive shape. Construction was completed in spring 2014, and the three-floor 'sky garden' was opened in January 2015. The 38-story building is 160 m tall. Since July 2017, the building has been owned by Lee Kum Kee Groups.
  Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly and costing over £200 million, 20 Fenchurch Street features a highly distinctive top-heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. The entrance floor and 34 floors of office space are topped by a large viewing deck. Bar and restaurants are included on the 35th, 36th and 37th floors; these are, with restrictions, open to the public.
  The tower was originally proposed at nearly 200 m tall but its design was scaled down after concerns about its visual impact on the nearby St Paul's Cathedral and Tower of London. It was subsequently approved in 2006 with the revised height. Even after the height reduction there were continued concerns from heritage groups about its impact on the surrounding area.
context_section_description: The previous building at 20 Fenchurch Street was 91 m (299 ft) tall with 25 storeys and was built in 1968 by Land Securities. The architect was William H. Rogers.
  The building was formerly occupied by Dresdner Kleinwort and was notable for being one of the first tall buildings in the City of London, and for its distinctive roof. It was one of the towers nearest to the River Thames when viewed from the southern end of London Bridge.
  In 2007, one of the upper floors was used in the drama series Party Animals.
  Demolition of the building was completed in 2008. Despite the top-down method of construction, it was not demolished from the bottom-up, as a temporary structure was built, allowing Keltbray, the demolition contractor, to demolish the building from the top down.
caption: The previous building on the site, as seen from the Monument
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