20 Fenchurch Street

20 Fenchurch Street
20 Fenchurch Street in 2015, viewed from the roof balcony of City Hall
General information
Status	Complete
Architectural style	Postmodern
Location	London, EC3 United Kingdom
Construction started	January 2009
Completed	April 2014
Height
Roof	160 m (525 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	34 (plus three-storey 'sky garden')
Floor area	Offices: 668,926 square feet (62,100 m2)
Design and construction
Architect	Rafael Viñoly
Developer	Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group
Structural engineer	Halcrow Yolles
Main contractor	Canary Wharf Contractors
Awards and prizes	Carbuncle Cup

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 top-floor 'sky garden' was opened in January 2015. The 34-storey building is 160 m (525 ft) tall, making it the sixth-tallest building in the City of London and the 12th tallest in London.

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. A large viewing deck, bar and restaurants are included on the top three floors; these are, with restrictions, open to the public.

The tower was originally proposed at nearly 200 m (656 ft) 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. The project was consequently the subject of a public inquiry; in 2007 this ruled in the developers' favour and the building was granted full planning permission. In 2015 it was awarded the Carbuncle Cup for the worst new building in the UK in the previous 12 months.

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.