Relay Building facts for kids
The Relay Building is a tall, modern building in London. It was first called One Commercial Street. This 21-story building is in the Whitechapel area. You can find it where Whitechapel High Street meets Commercial Street. Even though its old name was "Commercial Street," its main door is on Whitechapel High Street. The building's address is 114 Whitechapel High Street.
The Relay Building opened in 2014. A company called Redrow built it. Sigma Seifert were the architects who designed it. Construction stopped for a while in 2008. But Redrow bought the project when the housing market got better. The building has 207 apartments where people live. It also has six floors of offices and shops on the ground floor. There is even a car park underground. One of the entrances to Aldgate East tube station is right inside the building.
How the Building Looks
The company that built The Relay Building, Redrow, described its look. They said it was "like a blade of light." They thought its glass shape made it look like a sculpture. However, not everyone agreed with this idea. The magazine Building Design had a different opinion. They called it a "hulk of ill-fitting glass sheets." They thought it looked messy and out of place.
In July 2014, the building was even nominated for the Carbuncle Cup. This award is given to the "ugliest building" finished in the UK that year. But on the other hand, the International Property Awards gave it a prize. They honored it as the "Best Residential High-Rise Development UK" for 2013–14. So, people had very different ideas about its design!
The main entrance area of the building is quite interesting. It has a part of a London Underground train inside! This train section is from a C Stock train. It is used as a cool seating area for visitors. The train part shows "Aldgate East" as its destination. It has the number 5721 on it. This was the number of one of the last C Stock trains used before they stopped running in 2014. However, this specific train part is not the original 5721. The real train car is kept at the London Transport Museum's Acton depot.
Separate Entrances for Homes
The Relay Building has different types of homes inside. Some of these homes are called "affordable housing." This means they are available at lower prices. This is often required by planning rules. This part of the building has its own name, "Houblon Apartments." It also has a separate entrance on Tyne Street, which is on the side of the building.
In July 2014, a newspaper called The Guardian looked into new buildings in London. They noticed a trend where new housing developments had separate entrances. These separate doors were for different types of residents. People started calling these separate entrances "poor doors."
In November 2014, Vice magazine reported on protests about this. For 20 weeks, a group of local people protested outside the building. They protested every Wednesday evening. They were unhappy about the separate entrances. After 18 weeks, the company that owned the building sold it. A week later, a director from the new owners, Hondo Enterprises, met with the protesters. They agreed to stop protesting for a while.
Images for kids
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The building showing fire damage, March 2022
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