LONDON -- The controversial "Walkie Talkie" skyscraper, which has a downdraught so powerful it has created extreme gusts that have blown pedestrians off their feet and toppled shop signs, has unsurprisingly been named Britain's worst building.
The much-maligned 37-storey building's problems don't end with wind tunnels.
Even before it was completed, 20 Fenchurch Street's unusually shaped structure, designed by architect Rafael Vinoly and built by developer Land Securities, was reflecting a glare so bright that it was damaging cars, including an expensive Jaguar, parked on the road below.
In 2013, Sky News reported that a journalist successfully fried an egg by placing it in the scorching glare of the building, such was the heat created by the reflected sunlight.
Damage to nearby properties was also reported, leading the building's developers to attach a permanent sunshade to counter the issue.
The award, the Carbuncle Cup, which no building ever wants to win, was announced Wednesday by Building Design magazine.
The "Walkie Talkie" was the most nominated building by the magazine's readers and also attracted the most online debate, beating the Waltham Forest YMCA building, compared to a "detention centre," the City Gateway building in Southampton, dubbed the "fag butt" by locals because of its resemblance to a cigarette, and Parliament House in Lambeth, which nominees called "crass."
The panel of judges, made up of architects and writers, were unanimous on the "Walkie Talkie" scooping the prize, according to the magazine, with judge Ike Ijeh describing it as “a gratuitous glass gargoyle graffitied onto the skyline of London."