Do you love or hate tall buildings? Whatever your answer, it’s unlikely that they leave you indifferent. Most are impressive in their sheer scale and boldness. As you stand beneath them and look dizzily upwards, it’s almost too much to take in as the clouds rush past and the building (or is it just you?) seems to start to sway.

For me, I’m driven to photograph them and then to add to those images to create something new. Something that’s suggested to me by the structure and materials of the building, or just how it looks in a certain light.

This large scale artwork I’ve created focuses on the Landmark Pinnacle built close to the river on the Isle of Dogs in Docklands. To view details or to enquire about buying it, click here.

I watched this building take shape during the period I lived close by in one of the 10 storey buildings (but seemingly tiny in comparison) just a little further downriver in the shadowy bottom right of the image above. Did it seem extraordinary at the time? Yes, it did, but not in an exceptional way. The majority of buildings being built in that area are now super-scaled.

The main feature wasn’t revealed until later when it became clear that this building is all about the windows. It’s really a huge sectioned mirror that reflects the moods of the sky. So, when it’s dull and grey, the surface is dull and grey. But when a superstar sunset is reflected it becomes a shimmering reflection of colour and shine. Then at night, it becomes a grid of lit and unlit windows.

This made me think that I should pull together some of my photos of this building to show the various mood and views. So I trawled my archive to find a small selection of different moods, both day and night. Starting with the night ones of course since they’re my favourites.

I’ve tried to think why I’m so drawn to photograph and create art of tall buildings. I can only think at the moment that, living in the city, they’re a major part of the landscape. In the same way that I love looking at the changing light on mountains in Scotland, it’s the same for these features in London. Different lights and different conditions reveal different contours and highlights, different colours, different personalities. What do you think?

Here are my top 10 facts about the Landmark Pinnacle :

• It’s the UK’s tallest residential tower

• It’s 75 floors high

• It was built on the cleared site of a pub called City Pride

• Its address is 10 Marsh Wall (in the 17th century there was an embankment built up on the west riverbank of the Isle of Dogs, which is the origin of the name)

• The Sky Terrace roof garden on the 75th floor was the highest garden in the UK when it launched in October 2022 (it might still be but things move upwards fast so who knows?)

• It was built to provide 984 homes

• It’s 239m high (for comparison the Shard is 310m)

• You can stay in the building for a night or more. Cove Landmark Pinnacle is available on Booking.com (as at October 2024). Today’s cheapest price is £249 for a studio apartment.

• The architects were Squire and Partners who also were involved in the building curiously named One The Elephant (built at Elephant & Castle, London)

• The area used to be known as Millwall (due to windmills on top of the embankment walls) and the Millwall Football club was founded nearby by the employees of the Morton’s Factory (pickles, tinned goods and jams) which was at one time one of the main employers on the Isle of Dogs

South Dock (above) in recent years has become surrounded by very tall towers and with the current construction at Wood Wharf will eventually become surrounded. I suppose in the way of Central Park in New York.

This is the view from Surrey Water in Rotherhithe. I had hoped to get a shot of the full moon but the clouds were very fickle. On this night, the best light was created when the moon crossed behind the Landmark Pinnacle and made a beautiful effect of highlighting the clouds.

Stave Hill is a man made conical mound in Rotherhithe providing 360 degree views of the Docklands, the City, Canada Water and beyond. This shot was taken from part way up the hill.

The river facing residents and visitors of this building will be treated to a non stop procession of boats on the river, from the historical paddle steamer Waverley, canoes, party boats pumping out loud music, the speedy commuter boats the Thames Clippers, historic Thames barges to the vast new cruise ships which sail as far as Tower Bridge.

I hope you found something here to interest you.

If you have a few minutes, click here to view My Art page then click on each image to see full details and story. I’ve got two pieces ready at the moment and just this morning I think I’ve finalised my idea for the third. It’s not a fast process! :)

Want to contact me? Email me here.

Loren x