Have you ever wondered what a particular building in London is? On our City of London walks we stroll along London Wall and people often look up at all the high rise blocks that surround them.
One building that invariably catches peoples attention is the building on the junction of Wood Street and London Wall.
The building itself is pretty striking with its glass elevators and glass panels. But the feature that really attracts the attention of those on our London walks is the number of blue and red funnels that are clustered around the buildings exterior.
We often ask our walkers to see if they can guess what they are and we get some intriguing replies. Some say that they might be something to do with the teletubbies! Others wonder if there is a ship hidden in the basement.
The truth is a little bit more mundane though, typical of the sort of things we chat about on our walks of London, at the same time somewhat intriguing.
Located in the building is a telephone exchange and these blue and red funnels are, in fact, simply a part of the cooling mechanism for the exchange. The blue funnels take in the cold air for circulating and cooling, the red funnels pump out the hot air.
So next time you drive along London Wall, or wander along it in the company of a guide on one of our London walks, keep an eye out for these eye-catching curiosities, nudge the person next to you, and whisper knowlingy “do you know what those are”?
Tags: london walking tours, London Wall, My walks of London, Secret London walks, Wood Street
