Why is an unobtrusive building in the City of London totally reliant on water?

Today we start the Proper Engineering Channel journey with a look at a unique building in the City of London that had many design challenges in the 1970's and the solutions the Engineers came up with to resolve them.

[Collateralcoffee]

For this being designed in 1976, it held up extremely well. It looks brand new even today!

[phillsmith]

No idea why this vid came up in my feed but clearly the algorithm is working. Fascinating engineering. Liked and subscribed.

[andrewpenny]

Caught my attention, good video, I worked on the fire control systems in 80 cannon street before the bottom floors got built. Btw the lattice work had very large circulation pumps that ensured heat was drawn away from the ends of the beams.
This building was ahead of its time in many areas, I was always impressed with it when I went.

[ingridfong-daley]

My 12 yr old son and i live on opposite sides of the Earth right now (I'm in WA, USA and he's in Moscow, Russia) but we're meeting in London for the summer break and he's asked me to make a list of interesting buildings for us to visit/photograph/explore. I will have to send him this video, but i suspect it will meet with his approval. :)
Thank you for a fun, educational, light-spirited offering in this present world of doom n' gloom.

[Bloodknok]

I spent seven years working next door to this building, at Cannon Place. I walked past this building every day, and knew nothing about its distinct design until I watched this video. And what an interesting design it is!

[tomlee]

I worked in the City in the 1980's and thought this was just a 'design feature', like the Lloyds Building. Fascinating explanation, thanks Stuart.

[awt]

We walked past this building the other night, and my 9yo daughter pointed to this building and said "did you know that's filled with water?" :D

[airborneinferno]

Just been led here by your Proper DIY announcement. What a fascinating video. I might also note that this has tones of proper old school broadcasting. This video would not have been out of place as a segment on “Tomorrow’s World” for example. I’ve been with your DIY channel since the wonderfully simple “wiring an outside power socket” (since applied several times!) and have enjoyed everything you’ve released. Bravo Stuart. 👏

[michaelsummers]

Excellent vid, Stuart. Did you know that City Hall (built as the office for the Mayor of London) also has a water filled diagrid structure, but in that feature the water is heated to provide warmth to offset cold down-drafts. There is also a building at Chek Lap Kok airport at Hong Kong where the roof structure is water-filled and fitted with sprinkler heads for fire suppression. Same engineering designer.

[AJC-ymjx]

I was 40 years in the building industry as a QS so this channel is right up my street. Well done, I look forward to your future videos.

[across]

I worked on the first floor of this building for 5 years, when I first graduated as a surveyor. Great place! Excellent video Stuart, I am really looking forward to seeing where you take this channel next.

[MarkBingley]

You sir, are a great communicator and your pace of video is refreshing and appreciated (many other engineering videos ramble on just a bit too much!) . Fascinating insight and expertly explained. Great job!

[ruaraidhmcdonald-walker]

Great stuff Stuart. Good to see some more in-depth engineering content like Practical Engineering from Grady. Very welcome.

[Wallflowa]

I'm so gonna love your new channel. This one is remarkable. I'm from South Carolina in America. I'm fascinated with old architecture.

[alsmith]

I can't be sure, but suspect that the rising and falling of the water that you saw in the piping was not the thermal expansion of the water as it seemed to cool off too quickly when you took the heat away. I suspect that that the phenomenon you saw was caused by small amounts of surface boiling at the site of the heat source. The bubbles would have condensed back down to liquid even with the heat source on, they still took up more volume while they were present though.

[geoffbaylis]

Great video Stuart. I started working in the building next door to it in 1974, on the 13th floor just a few yards from the side of the building. It was fascinating to be able to peek through the hoarding around the construction and see these weird pipes going up. Around the same time I watched the Nat West Tower (now Tower 42) being built.

[mickeyfilmer]

Only just found out about this channel from watching your tiling video. Enginnering is right up my street as a retired marine engineer, and now a self taught electrical- one just for my own gratification. looking forward to seeing more videos in this series. Good luck with the new channel Stuart.

[tobymlyte]

Fascinating, that's a really clever idea. I'm really looking forward to the future videos on this channel. Proper DIY has been great. Keep up the good work.

[Grandpa]

Excellent descriptive statement, for a unique method of prevention of destruction by fire, aided by a demonstration on a human scale. Well done sir.

[keblawben]

Excellent video Stuart. The content was fascinating as I have passed and entered that building so many times since it was built and knew nothing of the history or construction. The photography and editing was very good too! I wish you every success with the new channel.