Office envy

The City of London is bristling with sophisticated, expensive business premises, many of them high-rise – soaring testaments to the wealth brimming in the capital.

On my Open House London explorations, I visited 30 Crown Place, just one of those buildings, constructed in 2009. It’s a cool edifice of blue glass and steel, while the interior space is occupied by a commercial law firm.

An organised tour whisked me in a capsule lift to a sophisticated suite of boardrooms, coolly resplendent with sleek lines, sumptuous materials and clean details.

There is also a terrace which overlooks London’s business centre, currently a maze of building work as the regeneration continues.

This pinnacle of corporate finery may have been a smokescreen – I didn’t see the regular offices, most probably a tangle of computers, chairs and desks covered in clutter, just like everywhere else.