What’s In A Name?

This is One Kemble Street, AKA Space House, AKA Civil Aviation Authority House (CAA House). This is actually 2 buildings joined by a walk way…and a building I will certainly have to revisit and re-photograph again.

The shots I got on this first visit were fine…but I didn’t get the compositions I wanted and completely missed at least one side of the building…quite why I didn’t walk around the building entirely I’m not sure. There was also really strong sunshine which was great for the tower but cast a really strong shadow over the CAA block part and the shots I got of that really aren’t up to scratch.

When I go out with my camera I do have a bad habit of taking the kitchen sink, and this was one such occasion. I am pleased to report that, unlike many other ocassions I did use every lens I took and my tripod on this one building…I might not have got the shot I was looking for, but I certainly gave the gear a good work out.

Anyway, back to the building. This was designed by George Marsh, a partner in Richard Seifert’s architectural firm. Seifert and his firm is credited with designing the Centre Point tower and Tower 42 (previously the NatWest Tower) amongst others. It was built between 1964 and 1968 and it was listed grade II with Historic England in January 2015

The tower part is 16-storeys high and was built using a façade of precast cruciform blocks of white concrete joined by dowels and dry grout with the next door block being of 8 storeys.

It’s certainly an interesting building so I’ll be back soon!