The Country's Ugliest Building...is Not in Acton

The 'Walkie Talkie' wins the Carbuncle prize 2015

Student accomodation blocks in Acton have been pipped at the post for the title of ugliest building in the UK.

Woodward Hall in North Acton is a mixture of student accommodation and residential development. Designed by Careyjones Chapmantolcher, Berkeley First built the three student halls of residence for Imperial College.

Local resident and nominator Jonathan Notley hated the development so much he stood for Parliament in the last election on a ‘ban inappropriate development’ platform.

He said, ''At 19 storeys the Imperial College Towers at North Acton leer over the nearby two-storey residential neighbourhood to the west, blocking out the rising sun, and ruining the skyline for miles around.

''These featureless blocks, with ugly cladding, look like they were made in kit form. They are crammed in on a postage stamp-sized plot of land, sandwiched between a cemetery, the Park Royal industrial estate and the A40 arterial road.''

But whilst Woodward Hall made the shortlist , the winner of the ugliest building in the UK has been announced as the 37-storey office building on Fenchurch Street in the City of London.

Nicknamed the Walkie Talkie, the tower was designed by architect Rafael Vinoly for developer Land Securities - the company which hopes to build Ealing's proposed cinema quarter.

The building has suffered various problems and was renamed the Walkie Scorchie in 2013 after the glass facade concentrated the sun’s rays and melted components on nearby parked cars.

The Carbuncle Cup, launched in 2006, is an annual competition run by the magazine Building Design and awards ''the ugliest building in the UK completed in the last 12 months".

It is intended to be a humorous response to the prestigious Stirling Prize given by the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The judges’ decision to award the Carbuncle Cup to the Walkie Talkie was unanimous.

2nd September 2015