Mrs. B's Family Stories, Then and Now: 07/01/2018

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Construction of Leadenhall Building in London

The other evening I watched a documentary about skyscrapers on PBS television. I like documentaries, but this is the first time I watched one about erecting a skyscraper. Of course I've seen films on Pyramids and the interesting ways they were built, but I never imagined one on building a skyscraper could be so fascinating.

The Leadenhall Building¹ is a skyscraper in the middle of London. Approval for the location was granted by the planning offices of the City of London Corporation. Views of St Paul's Cathedral² are protected. Even during WW II, Churchill gave fire fighters orders to save St Paul's before other structures for fear its loss would affect the moral of the English people. Peter Rees of the planning commission said he could imagine his wife using the design to grate parmesan, and the nick name stuck. Its known as the Cheesegrater.

The beginning of the film shows giant trucks delivering steel girders for the buildings frame. The work was being done at night to avoid daytime traffic. Both the trucks and the steel girders were so big and long, the word 'giant' really doesn't fit. Designed by Richard Rogers ³, its 48 floors and features a tapered glass façade on one side which reveals steel bracings with a ladder frame emphasizing the vertical appearance. An unusual steel megaframe provides stability to the entire structure without the use of concrete.

It's the world's tallest building of its kind. The flat side of the building is also encased in glass and houses the mechanical services, especially the elevator shafts. There are 26 passenger lifts with the elevator machinery painted in bright orange showing the counterweights and elevator motors.

Because the building was so closes to other structures, there was only a 10 foot working space around the perimeter of the building. Watching how the crane maneuvered the huge finished floors into place as the building grew tall, and how the encasing glass was installed during bad weather were problems that had to be solved on site. The crane operator never had a view of where he was moving things. He had to follow verbal instructions from workers far below his seat in the crane.

I have great admiration for the people who can design and actually do the work to create a building like the Leadenhall. There is no central core. There is a 100 foot high atrium with lawns, seating, trees, shops and an events space. I'm in awe of the workers who know how to do the actual labor in building a skyscraper. Not just the labor but the MATH too!!!!

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