Coleman Street - Around the Ward
The City Newsletter
The City of London Corporation produces a Newsletter to keep voters in the ward up to date with current issues facing the ward and the City. These pamphlets are published twice a year with printed copies being sent directly to registered voters - they are also available online.
The Moorgate Memorial
The tragic events of 28th February 1975 were commemorated by the unveiling of a plaque by The Lord Mayor, Alderman Fiona Woolf, CBE on the anniversay day in 2014. The Moorgate underground train crash claimed the lives of 43 people and this London Underground Ltd memorial stone carved in welsh slate is positioned on the side wall of the station in Moor Place.
There is also a memorial stone in Finsbury Square (a relatively peaceful area just 5 minutes North from Moorgate Station). This memorial, in black granite, contains the names of every life lost and was unveiled on the 28th July 2013 by the Lord Lieutenant of London. It was funded by public donation and the Borough of Islington.
Chartered Accountants' Hall
At No. 1 Moorgate Place (a quiet street just off Moorgate), is Chartered Accountants Hall, the home of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW). Although not a Livery Hall, the Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants do use this location as their meeting place. The Hall is available for private functions and also contains a public restaurant. Click Here to visit their website.
City Point
The highest building in the Ward is now known as 'City Point'. It was built on the South side of Ropemaker Street in 1967 as the headquarters building of BP and was known at that time as Britannic House. It was the first building in the Square mile to be built higher than St Paul's Cathedral.
When BP moved out in 1991, the name of this building at 1 Ropemaker Street was changed to Britannic Tower. In 2001, the name was changed again, this time to 'City Point', to coincide with its re-opening after a major refurbishment, which had entirely changed the appearance of the building. Planning permission to demolish and rebuild had not been possible, so the box-shaped, 60s tower block (shown upper-left) was converted in-situ into the smooth sided, modern looking building shown below.
This was achieved by extending the floors out on all sides, raising the roof (with the unusual top details), making it about 127metres high, adding a rounded profile, or 'prow' on one end, complete recladding of the outside face and an extra office block at low level - linked to the main building with further curved features.
The end result was a much less box-shaped building, together with a 75% increase in lettable floor space and quite a collection of public cafes, restaurants and other recreational facilities at ground level.
Moor House
'Moor House' at 120 London Wall, was completed in 2005. It's a 19 storey office block designed by Foster & Partners. Built above the planned 'Liverpool Street' Crossrail station, the foundation piles (many of which are 6 feet in diameter), reach down 57 metres below pavement level.
An 8 metre diameter shaft was also installed during the construction of this building, leading from the basement of Moor House down to the underground level of the Crossrail ticket office - this shaft and the associated concrete 'box' that it connects to, has significantly eased the creation of the station and will eventually be used for ventilation.
All of this preparatory work was completed 3 years before Government had finally given 'Crossrail' the green light to go ahead - but it did avoid the need to demolish Moor House.
Moorgate Exchange
The building at 72 Fore Street (also known as 'Moorgate Exchange'), replaces the BT telephone exchange that used to occupy that site. It has only 11 upper floors, the top 5 of which lean sympathetically away from the adjacent Barbican residential block. The green planted terraces (see picture, below right) of those upper storeys is a key feature of the building.
Electra House
The building at 84 Moorgate, known as Electra House, has been the home of the London Metropolitan University since 1944. It was originally built by architect John Belcher in 1902 (he was also involved in the design of the ICAEW Hall, see above). It has as its very distinctive upper ornament, a zodiacal globe supported by young Atlases.
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