The developers responsible for the Walkie Talkie have announced that a temporary scaffold screen will be erected over the next 24 hours to shield the street from the building’s damaging ‘solar death ray.’
Following yesterday’s revelation that the intense sunlight bouncing off the skyscraper’s curved glazed exterior is capable of melting cars, a number of nearby businesses have come forward to claim that the phenomenon has also caused damage to their properties.
Ali Akay, of Re Style barbers, says that the searing rays started a fire which burned a hole in his doormat.
“Customers are not going to come in if there is a fire in the front of the door. It is getting really serious. This is a health and safety issue. They should have looked into this before they built it,” he said.
Diana Pham, of the next door Viet Café claims reflected heat from the office building has blistered paintwork and broken a tile on the property.
The spectacle has attracted a great deal of media attention which has led to the building being redubbed the Walkie Scorchie. Yesterday a Sky News reporter demonstrated that the heat is so intense it is possible to fry an egg in the street below.
The developers, Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group, have now responded to the problem with the announcement that, following discussions with the City of London, a protective sun screen will be erected at street level.
“This solution should minimise the impact on the local area over the next two to three weeks, after which time the phenomenon is expected to have disappeared.
“We are also continuing to evaluate longer term solutions to ensure this issue does not recur in future,” a joint statement said.
The Walkie Talkie’s Uruguayan architect, Rafael Viñoly, was also responsible for the design of the Vdara Hotel is Las Vegas which has been subject to similar complaints about intense reflected sunlight.
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