The central point of Centre Point

Centre Point is to be turned into a block of flats. The once controversial office block in St Giles, London, was designed by Richard Seifert's company in the late fifties for 'the daddy of developers' Harry Hyams. By the late sixties and early seventies, when the building was newly finished, it remained unoccupied, due to Hyams' desire to rent it out to a single client (or, as many suspected, to sit on the site for years until rental prices increased). It became headline news, as the plight of London's homeless was contrasted with this huge empty office in the heart of the city. It stood as a symbol of greed in the same way that the excesses of bankers pay causes such repugnance today. The building was even occupied by a group of protesters in the mid-70s, and inspired the creation of homelessness charity Centrepoint. So it seems somehow fitting that it has finally ended up as a residential block.

Here's a beautiful, brilliantly shot and edited short film on the abstract beauty of the tower, made by Nigel Ordish and Michael Dye. It captures so well what has now become a much-loved and, with its rooftop lettering, highly useful, London landmark.