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One Building Mocked Then Honoured, One The Reverse
Locksmith EC3M: The Oil Rig That Became A Landmark, The Tower That Melted A Car
Lloyd's headquarters was ridiculed on arrival, then became Britain's youngest Grade I listed building. A tower nearby was celebrated, then briefly notorious for melting a Jaguar. Phone 020 8534 4949 for someone genuinely unfazed by either story.
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Covering EC3M around Fenchurch Street, Lloyd's and the Walkie-Talkie. Open in Google Maps
Why EC3M Is Different
Two buildings, two reputations that ran in opposite directions
EC3M covers Fenchurch Street and the ground around two of the City's most talked-about modern buildings. Lloyd's current headquarters, completed in 1986 to a design by Richard Rogers, put every pipe, lift and staircase on the outside of the building, leaving the trading floor inside completely uninterrupted. Critics at the time were not kind, either. Early reviews compared it to an oil rig, a coffee percolator, a motorcycle engine, and, memorably, a building on life support.
Even so, opinion shifted faster than anyone expected. By 2011, just twenty-five years after it opened, the Lloyd's Building became the youngest structure ever awarded Grade I listed status. Meanwhile, inside, the Lutine Bell still hangs in the old Underwriting Room, salvaged from a ship that sank in 1799 carrying a fortune in insured gold. It was rung in December 2021 to mark the death of the architect who designed the building people once mocked.
A Tower That Learned The Hard Way
Meanwhile, a short walk away, 20 Fenchurch Street opened to a far warmer welcome, at first. Nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie for its distinctive flared shape, the tower seemed destined to become another celebrated City landmark. Then, in September 2013, its curved, south-facing glass began doing something nobody had planned for.
What happened was that the building's concave face acted exactly like a parabolic mirror, concentrating sunlight into a scorching beam that hit the pavement below for a couple of hours each afternoon. A parked Jaguar had its wing mirror and badge melted outright, with warped panels along one side. Meanwhile, nearby reports described blistered paint and a carpet that began visibly smoking. The tower quickly earned a new nickname, the Walkie Scorchie, before developers fitted a permanent sunshade that solved the problem for good.
So this small stretch of Fenchurch Street has, in effect, managed both directions at once: a building that won over its harshest critics, and one that briefly became a cautionary tale about glass and sunlight. By comparison, we're considerably less ambitious. We just want every door here to do exactly what it's supposed to, no sunshade required.
If you're pressed for time: a lockout gets sorted now, a repair waits till you're free, and the night line answers regardless.
What EC3M Residents & Businesses Call About
The work this corner of Fenchurch Street brings in
Offices Near The Landmark Towers
Lloyd's and the Walkie-Talkie each pull in a steady mix of staff and sightseers. Security here gets measured against that constant movement.
Book aheadOlder Buildings Tucked Among The Towers
A handful of older structures still sit in the shadow of Fenchurch Street's modern skyline. A considered repair respects that older hardware rather than rushing past it.
Book aheadShops & Cafés Serving The Crowds
Office workers and landmark-drawn visitors overlap heavily on this stretch. A failed lock gets replaced without delay, keeping trade moving regardless.
Same-day priorityFlats Among The Offices
Scattered among the commercial buildings here, a handful of homes hold their ground. Each gets a separate look, apart from whatever office sits beside it.
Book aheadBroken Or Snapped Keys
Because older locks on this stretch rarely release a snapped key without a struggle, it's worth visiting the broken keys page for how we extract one safely.
Call nowEvening Lockouts
Both the office crowd and the sightseers thin out fast once the working day ends. Our availability stays constant, day or night. Call now
For clarity: we don't cut spare keys or program a building's own card and intercom access. Those jobs belong with other specialists.
Locked Out In EC3M
Landmark crowds by day, a quiet stretch by night
Two famous buildings keep this corner genuinely busy by day, drawing office staff and the odd curious tourist together.
Both crowds vanish fast by evening, and what's left is a noticeably quieter stretch of street.
Either way, nothing about our approach shifts. Softer methods always get tried thoroughly before a drill ever becomes necessary.
Fixing a snapped key looks nothing like fixing a missing one. For the specifics, see broken keys or lost keys, whichever applies.
Around EC3M
Postcodes within easy reach
Every EC3 postcode, all in one overview.
Eastcheap, right beneath the Walkie-Talkie's old hotspot.
Lombard Street, west of here.
Bevis Marks, north of Fenchurch Street.
Tower Hill, south-east along the river.
Aldgate, further north-east.
What We Do
Services across EC3M
Reputations Change
What two very different architectural stories have in common
A building's first impression doesn't always stick. One critic's oil rig became a protected landmark. One developer's glittering new tower became a punchline, however briefly.
Lloyd's own site tells the full story of its Grade I listed building. National Geographic covered the physics behind the Walkie-Talkie's reflected glare in detail at the time.
We'd rather our own reputation stayed boring and consistent. A lock that works properly on day one should keep working properly for years afterward.
If your own lock seems to be struggling, walk us through the signs and we'll tell you honestly what's likely going on.
The Process
Booking a locksmith EC3M callout
- Contact us firstShare your address, the unit number, and what's gone wrong.
- We confirm entryBuildings needing prior sign-off get that sorted before we travel.
- The engineer assessesNothing gets quoted until the door itself has been examined.
- We verify the fixBefore leaving, both lock and door are checked, not assumed.
Access & Traffic
Getting to you around Fenchurch Street
Heavy office traffic defines most of the working day here, and both landmark buildings pull in extra visitor footfall on top. Loading restrictions apply across the stretch.
Fenchurch Street and Monument stations both lie within a short walk, which often makes rail or Underground the faster option over surface roads.
Weekday office hours bring the heaviest conditions, with things calming noticeably by evening and over the weekend. We adjust our route to match.
Why People Call Us
What EC3M tenants and residents rely on us for
- We don't judge a door by its surroundings. Landmark towers nearby don't change how carefully we check what's actually fitted.
- Force is a last resort. Instead, every softer option gets exhausted well before a drill comes near.
- Comfortable near famous buildings. Even so, crowds and extra attention don't slow us down.
- We don't treat homes as secondary. Instead, a residential callout gets the same standard as any commercial one.
- We're upfront about what we don't do. Instead, spare keys and access-system programming sit outside our remit.
- Reachable at any hour. Busy daytime or a quiet evening street, it's the same to us.
Nearby
Areas around EC3M
Common Questions
Mocked, Then Listed
Was the Lloyd's Building really compared to an oil rig?
Yes, among other things. Early reviews called it an oil rig, a coffee percolator, and a building on life support.
How quickly did opinion turn around?
Within 25 years. By 2011 it had become the youngest building ever given Grade I listed status.
Does the building still house Lloyd's today?
Yes, it remains the working home of Lloyd's of London, with underwriting still carried out there daily.
Celebrated, Then Scorched
Did a skyscraper really melt a car with reflected sunlight?
Yes, in September 2013, concentrated glare from 20 Fenchurch Street damaged a parked Jaguar's panels and mirror.
What else did the reflected light affect?
Reports described blistered paint, singed carpet, and other minor heat damage nearby.
Is the problem still happening today?
No. A permanent sunshade was fitted to the building's facade, and the glare no longer reaches the street.
Booking Around Fenchurch Street
Which streets does EC3M actually cover?
Fenchurch Street and the immediate area around Lloyd's and the Walkie-Talkie.
Do you work on landmark buildings as well as ordinary offices?
We work on the ordinary offices and flats around them. The landmarks themselves have their own dedicated teams.
Can you reach a lockout during a busy lunchtime?
Yes — walking the final stretch tends to beat sitting in traffic at that time of day.
Is weekend cover realistic in this part of the City?
Absolutely, all seven days, irrespective of whether nearby offices are open.
Do you handle flats as well as commercial premises here?
Yes, though the bulk of what we do in EC3M is commercial rather than residential.
What if my building has its own security procedures?
Share the details with us ahead of the visit so we can work within them.
Reputations rise and fall around here. We'd just like yours to be: the lock always works.
Office, shop or flat near Fenchurch Street — let us know what's wrong and we'll sort the right engineer.