London Skyscraper That Reflects Rays Hot Enough To Melt Cars & Fry Eggs

A building in Las Vegas nicknamed ‘Death Ray Hotel’ and was forced to install anti-reflective film, rows of umbrellas and large plants
Bright: Intense sunlight reflected from the glass windows of the new “Walkie Talkie”
Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
The architectures behind the Walkie Talkie building blamed for melting cars in London also designed the Vegas ‘death ray’ hotel.
Rafael Vinoly’s infamous skycraper sent temperatures soaring to a scorching 50C today as tourists flocked to see its super-concentrated sunbeam.

Developers of the 37-storey tower erected a temporary street-level screen after it had melted paintwork and cracked tiles nearby.
The capital’s latest tourism hotspot is actually the SECOND building by Uruguayan-born Rafael to concentrate the sun’s rays to dangerous effect.
The beam from the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas was blamed for melting cups and singeing the hair of holidaymakers relaxing by a nearby pool in 2010.
The crescent-shaped building was nicknamed ‘Death Ray Hotel’ and was forced to install anti-reflective film, rows of umbrellas and large plants.

‘Death Ray Hotel’: The Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas

The bizarre effect today brought media crews from as far afield as Russia and Japan to the foot of the newly-renamed ‘Scorchie Talkie’.
Some even tried frying eggs as afternoon temperatures topped those in Nevada’s notorious Death Valley.
Toby Jarvis, 24, said: “It has made the building London’s latest landmark, it’s incredible.”
Prof Mark Handley, a computer science expert from the University College London, added: “The developers have missed a chance, they should have put some solar panels down on this patch. They would have made a fortune.”
Developers Land Securitas and Canary Wharf are to install emergency screens in Eastcheap, central London, after the owner of a Jaguar sports car returned to find it warped by the intense heat.
Angry business owners claim the £200 million project has blistered paintwork, caused tiles to smash and singed fabric.
The building’s distinctive concave design sees developers squeeze more money from its larger upper floors, which offer magnificent views over London.
Developers are now promising to look for a long term solution for the part-built building once the warm weather has gone.
Ali Akay, 22, manager of the Re-Style men’s grooming salon, said: “We’ve had people from all over the world – Germany, Japan, Russia – asking us about it.
“We’ve never seen anything like it before.”