London : Fidelity Fiduciary Bank

11th July 2011. Written by Xin Li.
London, United Kingdom.
While the west side of London carries a more casual and pleasant atmosphere, the area around Bank Tube station is the total opposite, it is the Raffles Place of London.

It reminded me of this scene in Mary Poppins.

The area around Threadneedle is almost like the heart of London’s financial institutions. It is here where the Bank of England is located.

Intimidating, narrow streets lined with tall, domineering row houses probably the vessel of some financial institutions carries a kind of serious, formal mood as you make your way down Threadneedle Road.

Amongst these historical buildings stood modern structures, such a huge Marks and Spencer departmental store, high-end designer stores and office blocks such as the famed Lloyd’s Building a masterpiece of British architect, Richard Rogers, housing the centuries old insurance market, the Lloyd’s of London.

The contemporary structure, located at Lime Street was designed with its services revealed rather than hidden, like the Center Pompidou in Paris. The staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes formed the façade this unique building.

The exterior was cladded with 30000 square metres of stainless steel. The pipes and ducts measure up to 80 kilometres.

“Lloyd’s is richly detailed and layered in section, offering a responsive, indeterminate architecture – a balance between permanence and transformation.” – Richard Rogers.

From the Lloyd’s Building, you could also see the famed ‘gherkin’, the Swiss Re Building designed byt Fosters + Partners behind the St. Andrew Undershaft, a Church of England church.

The church building which dates back to 1532 was one of the few buildings in London to escape the Great Fire of London 1666 and the World War II.

The area around Bank is a busy workplace in the day, but when it’s after work, it transformed into some sort of night party as the working crowds gathered around the bars and pubs at Leadenhall Market.

The Leadenhall Market was first mentioned in 1309 when the Manor of Leadenhall was first listed. It began as a meeting place for poulterers and cheesemongers in the 14th century.

It subsequently developed into a center of commerce in the 15th century with exclusive goods only available at Leadenhall Market such as leather (1488) and cutlery (1622). The current structure was built in the late 19th century and was used as “Diagon Alley” in the Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001.

The Leadenhall Market, Lloyd’s Building, St. Andrew Undershaft and Threadneedle Street are all reachable via Tube stations, Bank, Aldgate and Monument.

PRET A MANGER
Food ready to eat is what you get at Pret a Manger, a British sandwich retail chain found in 1986 in London. This sandwich retail chain affords reasonably priced meals that could be consumed for breakfast, dinner, lunch and even tea.

During our tour around Leadenhall and Threadneedle Street, we had some items at the Pret a Manger. The Lemon Cheesecake (2.45 GBP) was surprisingly appetizing.

We also had a Mango Salad, which was too sour, the lime only made it worse.