Façade reflective issues at The WalkieTalkie in London

View of the skyscraper under construction

An interesting physical phenomenon occurred a few months ago. The façade of a skyscraper under construction on 20 Fenchurch Street in Central London appeared to have cause some damages to a car parked on a nearby street.

The façade of the “Walkie Talkie”, as the building is dubbed due to its particular shape, appears able to reflect enough solar radiation able to melt the wing mirror and the badge of a car. As a temporary measure, a screen has been erected to prevent further damages until this is resolved.

This issue will probably be raised in future façade projects with reflective glass panes or any other sort of reflective cladding material.


View of the badge melted car (Photo of BBC News)

The image above shows  a possible explanation of this phenomenon 

You may find further information about the project in this link.

The following video of The Telegraph shows an interesting point of view of the effects observed.