Open House London 2012 - Broadgate

This is one of a short series of blog posts describing visits during Open House weekend in London, September 2012. You can find out more about Open House on their web site. Having visited the Lloyd's Building, there was just enough time for another City of London visit before heading up to Dollis Hill for the tour around Paddock.

Unfortunately 1 Finsbury Circus closed early due to its popularity, but nearby in Broadgate a few of the buildings had their lobbies open to the public. 10 Exchange Square was perhaps the least interesting, but was a handy stop on the way to the Broadgate Tower, the newest building in Broadgate.

The tower lobby is actually split over three levels, all of which were open, each offering interesting views of the others. From there, it was over to 155 Bishopsgate, one of the oldest buildings, being one of those built during the original redevelopment in the mid 80s. This has an upper and lower lobby, accessed via the Great Eastern Walkway and Bishopsgate respectively, although for Open House only the latter was open, which did cause some confusion for those arriving via the walkway, who could see other visitors inside even though the doors were locked!

155 Bishopsgate is a stark contrast to the Broadgate Tower, and shows how design has changed over the last 25 years or so - dark panelling replaced with bright colours and gleaming metal finishes.

You can see some more photos here.