The infamous “Walkie Talkie” building in downtown London was purchased for $1.7 billion by LKK Health Products Group, a Hong Kong-based company best known for making Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce. When it first opened, the building was heavily criticized for its “bloated, not elegant,” architecture according to Rowan Moore, an architecture critic for The Observer newspaper.

Due to its concave shape, the building created a focused glare that reflected onto roads which damaged vehicles and buildings due an incredible amount of concentrated heat. One journalist even managed to fry an egg in the heat, which led to the installation of a permanent sunshade.

The Walkie Talkie transaction was the largest ever for a stand-alone office building in the U.K., which suggests a general acceptance of the skyscraper.

Source: NYT

Demonstrating the heat of the Walkie Talkie