Rob, Rambling - A lot of things interest me...

I spotted these random little figures whilst I was out getting lunch earlier. They’re on a building on Hatton Garden, at the corner of St Cross St, and I wondered what they were.

The plaque to the left of the doorway explains that this building used to be a church, and then became a charity-run school at the end of the 17th century. That lasted until WWII when the interior got bombed to pieces. After the war it was rebuilt and converted to offices, but these figures (clothed in scholarly garb) were replaced as a nod to the building’s previous life.

Incidentally, Hatton Garden is one of those weirdly-numbered streets you find from time to time. Most British streets have odd numbers on one side, and even on the other, both increasing in the same direction. Number 1 is opposite 2, 3 opposite 4, and so on.

This street however, counts from 1 to around 60 on one side, then from 61 (ish) upwards on the other in the reverse direction. Number 11 is opposite 108, for example. One of those little oddities…

Image via London Reconnections.

This the kind of thing that really gets the Londoner in me excited: artists’ impressions of new stations. Especially when that station is the one nearest my office that I use pretty regularly.

Yep, this is what the inside of the new Thameslink Crossrail extension will look like at Farringdon station. The entrance is directly opposite the existing ticket hall, and will connect with the Tube lines and also the overland lines through to Moorgate.

The two lines pictured are on the main north-south overland network that runs from as far as Brighton on the south coast, through central London, and up to Luton or Bedford in the north.

It’s a major commuter route for those that live in north/south London, as well as slightly outside the Greater London area too. I used to work with a guy that commuted in from Brighton every day, almost two hours each way…

It looks really cool, and the street-level image shows just how they are going to transform what is a pretty grubby street. The StreetView from pretty much the exact same spot shows what it looks like now (turn to the east to see it). That beam of sunlight is where the entrance will be, and all of those shops are currently boarded up ahead of the construction work.

Reflections of the old in the new.

The Maughan Library on Chancery Lane reflected in the windows of a new office building on Fetter Lane, EC4.

Having said that, it looks good in the reflection of its neighbour. Although dark and moody too…

The Lloyds building is a slightly weird piece of architecture. The girlfriend didn’t like it, but I’m a fan. I like that you can see the internal workings of the building on the outside. If it had a layer of reflective glass over it, it’d be boring!

The ground-level detailing is also pretty cool.

I love the building at 30 St Mary’s Axe, known affectionately as the Erotic Gherkin. There aren’t many skyscrapers in London, and I’m a big fan of tall buildings. This one is pretty awesome up close.