Portal:London/Pictures/3 February 2006

CITY HALL City Hall in London is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. It stands on the south bank of the River Thames, in the More London development by Tower Bridge. It was designed by Norman Foster and opened in July 2002.

The building has an unusual bulbous shape, intended to reduce the building's surface area and thus improve energy efficiency. It has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse, motorcycle helmet or a glass testicle. Its designers reportedly originally envisioned the building as a giant sphere hanging over the Thames, but opted for a more conventionally rooted building instead. The building has no front or back on conventional terms but instead derives its shape from a geometrically modified sphere.

City Hall was constructed on a site formerly occupied by wharves serving the Pool of London. The building does not belong to the GLA but is leased under a 25-year rent. It forms part of a larger development called More London, with a sunken amphitheatre called The Scoop dividing it from more conventional office buildings a short distance to the west.

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