Building which melts cars

By Estelle Shirbon. LONDON Reuters - A London skyscraper that made headlines for reflecting sunlight at an intensity that melted parts of a Jaguar car in the street below has been awarded the annual Carbuncle Cup that highlights perceived architectural horrors.

Officially called 20 Fenchurch Street, the storey office tower in the City of London financial district was nicknamed the Walkie Talkie due to its curved shape before the car-melting incident in spawned a new moniker, the Walkie Scorchie. Organized by Business Design magazine, the Carbuncle Cup is awarded by a panel of architecture critics who take into account comments sent in by readers. World Canada Local. Car-melting London skyscraper to be permanently cooled down.

Full Menu Search Menu. Close Local your local region National. Search Submit search Quick Search. Comments Close comments menu. Video link. Close X. Click to scroll back to top of the page Back to top. Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena ]. Built at 20 Fenchurch Street in London's financial center, the story skyscraper is known locally as "the Walkie-Talkie" for its unusual shape. But that curvilinear shape is exactly what's causing the problem: The south-facing exterior wall is covered in reflective glass, and because it's concave, it focuses the sun's rays onto a small area, not unlike the way a magnifying glass directs sunbeams onto a superhot pinpoint of light.

That same concave shape has been used in the design of solar power plants. A solar dish in New Mexico contains 82 mirrors that focus sunlight onto an engine that contains hydrogen. As the gas expands and contracts from heating and cooling, that motion drives pistons that power a generator that creates electricity.

The hotspot became known as the "Vdara death ray.