City Hall, London
Jake Davies
Situated on the south bank of the River Thames, directly across the river from the Tower of London and near the southern end of Tower Bridge, London City Hall is a strikingly unique building.
Architecture
Surprisingly perhaps, even though the buildings shape is both unique and distinctive, it has not earned a common nickname.
Most people know 30 St. Mary Axe as "The Gherkin", 122 Leadenhall Street as "The Cheese Grater", and 20 Fenchurch Street as "The Walkie-Talkie".
However, City Hall has not been memorialized this way even though it has been described by some of its previous tenants such as former Mayor Ken Livingstone, who referred to it as the Glass Testicle.
Later Boris Johnson used a synonym, the Glass Gonad. The reason is maybe that its shape is kind of hard to describe, but in actual fact it is a transformed sphere.
Imagine a sphere cut into horizontal slices, then shift each slice along a horizontal axis, and voila! you have City Hall.
City Hall was designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2002. Foster and his firm are very prolific and have designed many major structures both in the UK and abroad.
The aforementioned Gherkin was designed by him, and almost adjacent to City Hall is another of his buildings commonly known as the Batman Building.
Interior
The interior of City Hall and its helical walkway will be familiar to many as it was the location for several scenes in the 2015 James Bond blockbuster "Spectre" where it was used to portray the interior of the fictional Centre for National Security, and where, near the end of the movie, one of the baddies, played by Andrew Scott falls to his death.
City Hall is not technically a city hall. It is the home of the Mayor of London's office, and of the London Assembly, two parts of the Greater London Authority.
However it has been decided to move to new premises at a new building called The Crystal located on Victoria Dock in east London. The move is planned to be completed by the end of 2021.
County Hall
The previous County Hall was directly across from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in Westminster.
It is now the Sea Life London Aquarium, Shrek's Adventure London, the luxury London Marriott Hotel County Hall and the Namco Funscape amusement arcade.
That building opened in 1922 and was designed by Ralph Knott. Its administrative functions ceased when then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher abolished the GLC in 1986 after bitter political differences with the Labour-led administration of Ken Livingstone.
The London Eye also now stands outside the building on the South Bank.
Access - Getting There
The Queens Walk
London SE1 2AA
Tel: 030 7983 4009
Immediately adjacent to City Hall is the Scoop, a sunken amphitheater where film screenings, theatrical performances, and other events are held. It is not related to City Hall.
Also nearby is the Fashion & Textile Museum, Southwark Cathedral, one of the four major cathedrals in London, and HMS Belfast.
City Hall is open to the public under normal circumstances from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on weekdays. Not all areas are open, but there is a cafe inside.
The nearest tube stations are Tower Hill (Circle & District Lines) on the North Bank and London Bridge (Jubilee & Northern) and Bermondsey (Jubilee) on the South Bank.
Nearby London Bridge Station (which connects to London Bridge tube station) is the 4th busiest station in the UK.
It has trains to various destinations in southeast England including Brighton, Cambridge, Charing Cross, Dartford, Dover, Gatwick Airport, Greenwich, Hastings, Hayes, London Victoria, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells.
By bus the nearest stop is City Hall. The following London buses stop here - the 47, 343, 381, N381 and N199. At Tower Bridge City Hall buses 42, 78 and 343 all stop.
Skyscrapers in London
Other tall buildings in London which is becoming an increasingly vertical city include The Shard on the south bank of the River Thames close to City Hall, the Cheesegrater, the Electric Razor and the Walkie Talkie - all nicknames, of course.
Accommodation
If you wish to stay in this area of London there are several recommended options.
These include the four-star Hilton London Tower Bridge, the good-value, three-star ibis Styles London Southwark, and also Native Bankside, which is close to the Globe Theatre.
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