That tower block at Elephant and Castle

[citizenED]

Anyone else impressed by the new tower block at Elephant and Castle. Watching it going up over the past year has been great. Apparently it is called Strata and is "the tallest tower block in Central London"

[woofmarkthedog]

The one with the fans in the top..?

Yes we love it

Great to see it going up

W**F

[benjaminty]

yep been living in Borough last 6 months and can also see it from my office. do love it and reminds me of an owl ... not sure why

[SeanMacGabhann]

I love it

but it does look like saurons tower

[woofmarkthedog]

This...

is it ....though from some angles it looks like a "pen" don't you think ...?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3789545488_b77f87a498.jpg

or is that me on having a flashback..?

W**F

[ruffers]

It looks great and every time I see it I'm disappointed they haven't fitted any propellers yet... Flats are a bit dear though.

[giggirl]

No, not impressed. It's ugly. Not as ugly as the shopping centre though.

[PeckhamRose]

I love it. View from our window means we can now ID exactly where E&C is. We can see Wembley Arch and I think we can see the stub that is the beginnings of Shard. But I love the Strata. And there is a sort of little mini stub Strata next to it which looks weird.

[Marmora Man]

Like Peckham Rose I can see it from home and like what I see. A major downside tho' was the loss of Pizzeria Castello that was a regular haunt of mine, along with the original Firkin pub "Fox & Firkin(?)" in the mid 80s when I was slowly renovating my first flat in Kennington.

[PeckhamRose]

The original Firkin was called the Goose. It was on the junction of Southwark Bridge Road and something else by the railway bridges. Dogbolter. Oh I Loved That Beer. David Bruce had a job and made beer in his bath in his spare time, so the story goes. He got made redundant and opened the Goose with the redundancy pay. The 80s were good for some folks! The beer was marvellous and all the names of the pubs were either F or Ph, except the first, the Goose. Happy to be corrected but that's the story as I understood it. Anyway, how is that pub being affected by the Strata? (I think it closed down tho, didn't it? The Firkin still is called the Firkin in Lewisham I think, but Friary Meux bought the chain and then sold it on to someone else.)

[sophiesofa]

Isn't it referred to as the lipstick or is that a different new one, or maybe I made it up entirely? I don't like it - bit ugly but you can't please everyone.

[flapjackdavey]

giggirl Wrote:

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> No, not impressed. It's ugly. Not as ugly as the

> shopping centre though.

I agree with you , I think its effing hideous and resent the fact that it dominates the bloody skyline from wherever you ha[ppen to be in a lot of south east London ... the shopping centre is ugly too , but at least its not sticking up into the sky

modernity ... pah! thats what I say .

[genwilliams]

I was unimpressed until the top went on recently - that sort of shield shape at the top is fantastic. Didn't realise the circles were fans - I thought they might be huge satellite dishes or something equally Bond-esque. Either way, it has now started to interest me.

[woofmarkthedog]

I passed it today...

I realised it actually looks more like a giant "cigarette lighter" than a pen or a lipstick

Which is nice...!

W**F

[Dr De Soto]

It's been nicknamed locally "Hedwig House" because of its resemblance to an owl. That's how I'll refer to it from now on.

[katie1997]

I like that - me too.

Cheers for the info.

[woofmarkthedog]

Yes...

I shall now think of it like this...."yes....ha...."

http://thescope.ca/photos/oct0809/owl.jpg

FMSW.....

W**F

* bangs head against painted breeze block wall *

[katie1997]

Chill out dude B)

[woofmarkthedog]

Ok...

http://images2.cafepress.com/product/414844032v3_480x480_Front_Color-White.jpg

W**F

[Ant]

I think it mings.

So there.

[Sue]

Reminds me of an owl with three eyes, but I don't like it much

[titch juicy]

obviously gonna split opinion, but i think it looks great

i think those giant 'fans' are wind turbines and will provide all the electricity for the complex

[Jeremy]

I also assumed they were wind turbines.

God knows who's going to pay 400k or whatever to live in E&C though. Maybe buyers will see it as a long term investment or something.

[KidKruger]

Pizzeria Castello is still available - it's down Bermondsey now and still does OK grub.

[Marmora Man]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> Pizzeria Castello is still available - it's down

> Bermondsey now and still does OK grub.

Hey great - where in Bermondsey. I miss their garlic bread - it could knock over an elephant at a 100 paces.