Westminster Station Underground — London
Photograph ©2008 by Brian Cohen.

The Most Famous Landmarks of London in a Unique Cutaway View

The iconic buildings of London give the initial appearance of simplicity — they are instantly recognized by most onlookers from the outside — but most of those buildings are sustained by a complex web of architectural and cultural factors. Could you imagine being able to get a glimpse beneath the surface of each building for a much clearer overall idea of the complexity of what goes into the planning and maintenance of such stunning structures?

The Most Famous Landmarks of London in a Unique Cutaway View

A series of images has been created for seven different structures; and this article from QuickQuid gives us an idea of what each of the seven buildings would look like if their exteriors were cut away and revealed their interiors.

“The UK capital is a working city first of all. While they may look fancy from a selfie-stick, buildings such as the Gherkin or Big Ben have contemporary functions to fulfil. And the clockwork that makes them run is just as exciting as their silhouette on the skyline”, according to that article. “Most people don’t get a chance to see behind the scenes, so we decided to open up seven of London’s top landmarks with a series of cross-sections showing just what’s going on beneath their famous fronts.”

I have been given express written permission to use the images and the verbatim text from the aforementioned article in this article; so let us take a break from the news of the day and have a little fun.

1. The Gherkin — 30 Saint Mary Axe, London EC3A 8EP

The enormous glass pickle at the heart of London’s financial district is mostly made up of offices working in the insurance sector.

While it may look smooth from the outside, there’s plenty at work under the skin. Norman Foster’s design is highly energy efficient. Exposed shafts under each floor expel hot air from the building in the summer, and utilise the sun’s heat and light in the winter, so that the building uses half the energy of similarly-sized buildings.

There are restaurant/dining rooms on the top levels, and a club room at the peak which offer 360-degree views over the city. Believe it or not, the dome’s arch is the only curved piece of glass on the building’s exterior.

a tall building in a city
Source: QuickQuid.

2. The Barbican — Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

The Barbican is a cutting-edge arts venue at the heart of an epic brutalist estate, which required over 200,000 square meters of concrete for its ‘tooled’ finish alone.

The cultural centre is nestled twenty metres below ground level in order to comply with local building restrictions. It’s described as ‘the hull of a large ship in which much is contained below the water’.

If it’s hard to get an overview of such an enormous complex from the outside, from the inside visitors experience a kind of puzzle, with levels at multiple heights interlocking via semi-exposed walkways and stairwells.

a building with a section of the building
Source: QuickQuid.

3. Elizabeth Tower — Westminster, London SW1A 0AA

Although often referred to as ‘Big Ben’ – this famous landmark is actually called Elizabeth Tower and ‘Big Ben’ is the 15-ton bell that sits inside the top of the clock tower.

In addition to the literal clockwork that keeps the building operational, the tower boasts a prison room specifically intended for naughty politicians from the Houses of Parliament next door; its last involuntary guest was MP Charles Bradlaugh in 1880, but stay tuned for updates.

Other ‘treats’ across the tower’s eleven floors include a mini-museum, a storeroom, and 334 steps (plus another 59 to the Ayrton Light which comes on when parliament is in session). In fact, there’s no elevator – which is one reason this cross-section might be the closest you get to a look around.

a clock tower next to a river with Big Ben in the background
Source: QuickQuid.

4. The O2 Arena – Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX

The former Millennium Dome is the planet’s largest (supported) dome, and has risen to become the busiest music arena in the world.

Originally designed for a year-long Festival of Britain-style series of exhibitions and experiences, the structure was repurposed into a stadium over a four-year period in the mid-noughties.

Developers capitalised on a complexity of structure that belies the dome’s superficial simplicity. Rainwater that runs off the curved roof is collected, treated, and pumped back in to flush the arena’s toilets. The super-thin glass fibre fabric is pinned to supporting cables by over 20,000 clamps: the 100-metre masts that hold it up are what disqualify the structure from being a true dome in architectural terms.

a large building with many lights
Source: QuickQuid.

5. Kings Cross Underground — Euston Road, Kings Cross, London N1 9AL

No type of structure quite says “hidden complexity” like an underground rail network. And few hubs are so busy and expansive as Kings Cross.

When the original station opened in 1851, its twin 800ft train sheds were praised for their simplicity. But high demand has required major overhauls over recent decades. The new steel and glass Western Concourse was part of a £500m redevelopment ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

Seen from inside, its epic roof “rises up a great steel stalk in the centre and then spreads into a tree-like canopy of intersecting branches, before descending into a ring of supports at the circumference. In so doing, it avoids the need to drop columns into the ticket hall of the underground station underneath the main space,” as described by The Observer’s architecture critic Rowan Moore.

a model train tracks in a city
Source: QuickQuid.

6. Royal Opera House — Bow Street, London WC2E 9DD

The present Royal Opera House is the third to have occupied the plot: the previous two were lost to fire, with the latest iteration opening in May 1858.

However, the building received a major £178m revamp in the 1990s. The Floral Hall, an iron and glass structure designed by E.M. Barry as both a flower market and ballroom, was transformed from its distinctly fading glory into a new social space with bars and eateries.

A peek behind the Bow Street grand classical portico is a true glimpse behind the scenes, revealing just how the action comes together on stage.

a building with a stage
Source: QuickQuid.

7. 10 Downing Street — Downing Street, Westminster, London SW1A 2AA

The headquarters of the UK government and official residence of the Prime Minister (or technically, of the First Lord of the Treasury, a role that is usually held by the PM), Number 10 is actually comprised of three separate 17th century buildings which have since been connected.

“The scene of hundreds of years of top-level decision-making, it is also the product of hundreds of years of incremental adaptations, repairs and restorations,” writes one of the building’s biographers, “…much about No. 10 is the product of historical chance, rather than design.”

The cutaway shows a suite of drawing rooms on the first floor, with offices and the PM’s meeting room/den (centre) below. All in all, the building contains around 100 rooms – hardly the modest terraced house it appears from the front!

a large brick building with a large courtyard
Source: QuickQuid.

Summary

I actually thought that this idea of most famous landmarks of London in a unique cutaway view was a rather clever idea which could be expanded to other cities around the world — and I understand that an American version of this feature is in the works. If it comes to fruition, I intend to present it to you.

Photograph ©2008 by Brian Cohen.

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