Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning Sir Edward Lister has unveiled the largest model of London ever commissioned.
Built by Pipers and commissioned by New London Architecture (NLA), the model, at a scale of 1:2000, showcases more of London than ever before – reaching further out into West London and Opportunity Areas such as Old Oak Common, all the way to the Royal Docks in the east, Nine Elms in the south and King’s Cross in the north.
More than £100bn of current and future development is represented. Around £40bn is already built or financed, with over £60bn to follow in the next 10-15 years. The new model also highlights huge infrastructure projects including Crossrail and the major upgrade of London Bridge Station currently under construction.
It has taken four months to build, with Ordnance Survey providing the latest building height and footprint data and Pipers using state of the art technology such as 3D printing and laser cutting to create the UK’s biggest, complex, jigsaw puzzle.
After being on display at MIPIM, the model will reside at the NLA galleries in The Building Centre in Store Street and will have touch screens to engage fully with the public. It will also feature a projection system that will allow a myriad of stories to be shown. Anything that can be mapped or animated can be overlaid onto the physical model of London – from underground lines, geographic areas or features, historic growth and boundaries, people movements and clusters of buildings.
Sir Edward Lister commented: “This is the largest and most detailed model ever made of London, representing more than £100 billion of current and future development and showcasing the capital’s most important regeneration and infrastructure schemes including Old Oak Common and Crossrail.
“We are proud to use it at MIPIM this year as a tool to attract vital investment to build the infrastructure, offices and homes necessary to continue to create jobs and support the capital’s economic growth.”
Patrick McKeogh, Managing Director of Pipers added: “Pipers are both excited and privileged to be involved in this project. We believe the model will act as a tool for both professionals and the public, helping to make sense of the remarkable scale and mix of development taking place in London. And where better to unveil it than at the London Stand at MIPIM, an international stage where we can show the scale and breadth of continued development across the Capital. Even more people will then be able to see it when it goes on public display at the end of March at the NLA”.
David Roberts, Strategic Relationship Manager at Ordnance Survey commented: “OS is driving several exciting advances in 3D and the built environment right now and the opportunity for us to include our premier mapping, building heights and imagery data into the new model has clearly helped reduce the time and costs in production. As OS underpins all development, we are very excited about the prospect of working with NLA to show the benefits of combining data in an interactive display to the wider property community on its return to London.”
