A death ray sounds more like something from a comic book or Bond movie than something that could happen in real life.
But that is exactly what a skyscraper in London produced because of its perhaps thoughtful design.
20 Fenchurch Street, better known by the colloquial name “Walkie Talkie”, was completed in the spring of 2014 at a cost of over £ 200 million.
The building, designed by the architect Rafael Viñoly, has a distinctive shape that makes the top of the building appear to bulge outwards.
On the top four of the 38 floors of the building there is a large viewing platform, a bar and several restaurants.
The glare from the sun at some point in the day meant that a 117C beam shot out of the glass onto the street below
(Image: (Flickr: NH53))
Originally proposed to be 200m high, the height was reduced to 160m in the final construction and the unconventional design raised many concerns about the impact on the surrounding area.
When completed in 2015, it won the Carbuncle Award for worst building in Britain built that year.
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On the subject of matching items
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On the subject of matching items
However, this was the least of the problem with the building. The developers found out in 2013 that what they had built essentially directed a solar beam of death onto the streets below.
Due to the concave shape of the building on one side, the sun bounced off it like a mirror for up to two hours a day, with temperatures of up to 117 ° C being measured on the streets below.
The developers even had to pay £ 946 to a car owner after the vehicle’s body melted under the beam.
The Walkie Scorchie, as it was once called
(Image: Jonathan Brady / PA Wire)
Another store nearby suffered a burned doormat, and a reporter even managed to fry an egg in a pan that was on the floor under the “death ray”.
The controversy led to the building being referred to as the “Walkie Scorchie” and “Fryscraper” by those with a good eye for puns.
Perhaps most incredible was that the architect in charge, Rafael Viñoly, had the exact same problem earlier when he designed the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas, which had its own death ray.
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Obviously he hadn’t learned from the problem and even blamed global warming for the fact that there weren’t that many hot days when he first arrived in London.
The problem in the Walkie Talkie building was soon fixed with an awning on the side of the tower, but I doubt many Londoners will forget the time when the capital was struck by a solar death ray.
