24 July 2011

London Chamber of Commerce RIP

I am a bit late with this... the demolition of the old London Chamber of Commerce building at 69-75 Cannon Street, along with others further along the Cannon Street, happened earlier this year. I watched for months after the hoardings went up and crossed my fingers that the building might be saved and renovated. But no :-(
It's so hard to believe that this simple stone building with its understated details has been obliterated. I am unsure what is planned to replace it but if the new buildings further up the street near the Cannon Street Station are anything to go by, it will be fairly nondescript. In fact, the new location for the LCC is actually inside one of these 'Lego' buildings. Rooting around in the LCC's website I cannot even find a picture of the exterior, so they must know themselves how bland it is.
Sadly I never saw the inside of the old building. The exterior had intricate grilles and bronze gull light fittings around the doors – I can only hope that some of these delightful details have been salvaged for use elsewhere.

3 comments:

  1. A real shame. The last time I passed by, just about the only thing left on that block was the strange, red, lowrise building in the middle.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really, the red building's still there?
    Well, that's something I suppose... I quite like the retro 50s/60s feel of it.
    Ionder how long Albert Buildings at the Cannon St & Queen Victoria St will last... ?
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/janepbr/4678530372/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like to think that "they" have to stop somewhere but who can tell.

    ReplyDelete

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