First things first: this building sits on top of a Roman temple. No, really. When they dug the foundations back in the 1950s, workers uncovered the remains of a temple dedicated to Mithras, a mysterious god from Persia. You can just imagine the builders staring at their shovels, going, “Right, lads, coffee break or ancient deity?”
They actually moved the temple ruins to make way for the original building, which was a bit of a cultural faux pas. But in 2017, a brand-new Walbrook building rose, and they brought the temple back—like a prodigal son made of stone. Now, your morning commute could literally involve walking past a 1,800-year-old altar. Beat that, boring office park.
The new building wraps around this archaeological treasure like a modern, glass-and-steel hug. You can pop into the Museum of London’s site to see the ruins, then walk twenty feet to grab a flat white. It’s history with a side of espresso. Brilliant.
The Look (And The Laugh)
Architecturally, 25 Walbrook is a bit of a show-off. Designed by Sir Michael Hopkins, it’s got these dramatic, swooping glass curves that make it look like a glass ship about to sail down the street. I call it the “Jellyfish in a business suit.” It’s elegant, but also slightly weird in the best possible way.
One of its best jokes is its “curtain wall” of glass that is actually designed to let the Roman temple be seen from above. That means if you’re on the fifth floor, you can look down through the floor-to-ceiling windows and see tourists taking selfies with ancient stone. It’s like a live-action documentary where finance bros are the background extras.
And the glass isn’t just for looks. It’s incredibly energy-efficient, which is a fancy way of saying the building is saving the planet one air-conditioning unit at a time. You know, while the executives inside save their bonuses. Still, it’s the thought that counts, right?
The Walbrook Building
