Viñoly building on course for April 2014 completion

Just a day after news emerged of problems with one City of London tower, Land Securities has said work on its Walkie Talkie building by Rafael Viñoly is on schedule to be completed in April 2014.

The scheme at 20 Fenchurch Street is one of a cluster of high-profile buildings earmarked for the City that are better known by their nicknames, including Rogers Stirk Harbour’s Cheesegrater in Leadenhall and KPF’s Helter Skelter building in Bishopsgate – which yesterday developer Arab Investments said had stalled because of funding problems.

In a trading update, Land Securities said the Viñoly building, which is being built in joint venture with Canary Wharf Group, was progressing well while a second, its mixed-use Buckingham Gate scheme in Victoria, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli and Swanke Hayden Connell, was on course to complete next April.

But outgoing chief executive Francis Salway, who is leaving in March to be replaced by the firm’s current London managing director Robert Noel, warned trading remained difficult. “As is to be expected in a period of economic uncertainty, letting transactions are taking longer to execute,” he said.

Land Securities said its Trinity Leeds shopping centre, designed by Chapman Taylor, was now close to being two-thirds let.

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