I have been in this on a hard hat tour a couple of years ago while still under reconstruction. It is a very interesting building and one worth saving as there are good alternative uses for it.
I thought they were stretching the father of the skyscraper story a bit far in all honesty. If I recall correctly the frame in this building is cast iron with the intention of preventing collapse in the case of fire. It also has quite robust external walls which I recall were load bearing. Its fine to build up to about 5 stories with brickwork, but then weight becomes a factor. In true skyscrapers, the load bearing element is the steel frame with the external cladding hanging on this frame. Hence curtain walling.
English Heritage did spend a significant amount of money renovating this building. Over £5m at the time I visited and were still doing the structural work and sorting the window opening out. It will be interesting to see how it fairs as a visor attraction.
That’s a super photo Mike, so glad you were there to record it.
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