Attendant Café (Formerly victorian loos!)

This is the most unusual place I have ever had a hot chocolate!
Attendant was built in the late 1800's and for almost 100 years was an underground men's toilet!
Vacant for over 50 years, it was recently lovingly restored to become a café! 



The entrance/exit is still via the original staircase at 27 Foley street, Central London

One of the original cubicle doors has been left for customers to "graffiti"!

The old Attendant’s office has been turned into a little kitchen

The original porcelain urinals remain surrounded by the original Victorian floor tiles.

...the rich hot chocolate was delicious...
but ironically the only facility Attendant seemed to be lacking was a customer toilet!

 

Endless Stair - London Design Festival 2013

This years London Design Festivals Landmark project is "Endless Stair" in front of Tate Modern. 

Translating Eschers 2D drawing into a 3D structure of 15 interlocking staircases proved challenging for the team of architects, engineers and designers headed by Alex de Rijke. For more details watch this clip

 

In order to be able to easily transport the installation and to make it weather proof, tulipwood, rather than traditional soft wood was used.



I visited on a rainy day and the effect of the sheet of raindrops gave the impression that the stairs had been highly polished which further showed off and highlighted the beautiful wood blocking and detail! 

Salvo Fair 2013 - Knebworth House

Salvo 2013 took place at Knebworth House. The grounds were taken over by magnificent dogs, architectural salvage, reclaimed building materials, antiques, retro items, garden ornaments and quirky pieces!

Authentic post boxes restored to their former glory and a hymn board salvaged from a demolished church (which will now become my "photo display" board!) I bought the board from "Antique Church Furnishings", who specialise in religious artefacts and furnishings.

Ornate antique bathroom fittings reclaimed from houses in France



Original stained glass doors and windows made from salvaged glass

Fixtures and fittings to create a vintage office!

Industrial light fittings and shades and Singer sewing machine table legs - probably from an old factory. 



Wonderful! An old Belfast sink unit, splattered with years of paint, from an art studio!

   



I love architectural drawings filing cabinets & shoe lasts made into coat hooks!

 

    

Loved it!

For further details about future Salvo fairs, please click here to see their website.

Petain Street, Singapore

I love the Shop Houses in Singapore. This is Petain Street in the Little India area - a row of 18 ornate terrace houses built in 1916 on what used to be swamp land.

Indian-style stucco pillars and chinese symbols in the bas-relief plasterwork depicting animals, including rabbits and peacoks or flowers

Beautiful spanish floral tiles. I'd love these in my bathroom at home!

The full beauty of the tiles surrounding the windows

A sky scraper menacingly towers over its old neighbours!

The architecture is a blend of European, Malay, Indian and Chinese influences with carved wooden eaves which are apparently found in Malay houses, classical-inspired columns and pilasters

The architecture is termed Singpaore eclectic or Chinese Baroque. I love the stained glass too!



The decorative facades reminded me of delicious royal icing piped onto cakes!

Great care has even been taken crafting the iron work above the doors

Hard to believe that these houses, typical of 1920's architecture, have survived and are located on a busy road surrounded by modern sky scrapers!

Thank you to Theres more to Singapore for signposting this street and sharing the information. They have also described other interesting walks in Singapaore that are worth reading about on their blog.  

 

 

The Freitag tower!

On a recent visit to Switzerland, I was excited to visit the unique Freitag shop, housed in tower of 17 freight containers in the bohemian district of Zurich-West.

I love the Freitag brand story; inspired by the colourful truck tarpaulins that drove past their offices daily, the Freitag brothers, in a former cogwheel factory, now design and produce thousands of trendy, functional and waterproof bags from recycled materials taken from the streets - used, exhaust-stained truck tarpaulins, the inner tubes of bicycle tires, old safety belts and air-bags.

 The bags are displayed in box drawers piled high - maximising the limited space.

 Each box has a picture of the unique bag contained within.

 Pulling out each drawer revealed another colourful bag

 The staircase at the side of the tower leafding up to the roof-top viewing point.

Original features echoing the orgin of the materials used to make the bags

 Mascot Freitag bike. The bags are perfect for cyclists.

Bush Theatre

I saw a wonderful play this week-end: Chalet Lines, by Lee Mattinson.
An added bonus was that it was being performed in the Bush Theatre which has recently moved into the former Shepherds Bush library. A modern twist of green neon above the entrance gives a taste of what's to come.

The foyer is home to a friendly bar, leading into a reading room/café with book shelves piled high with play texts and gorgeous hardback "coffee table books", perfect for browsing through whilst enjoying a pre-theatre meal or cosy drink. During Chalet Lines, the room was decked out with garlands of multi-colored bulbs, echoing the Butlins chalet set! There was a lovely atmosphere in the room.

When transforming the library in to a theatre, the builders removed the foundation stone of the library and unearthed a time capsule. It included a copy of the West London Observer and Advertiser, dated 1895 and a hand written note by the library commissioner. The papers contained adverts, including a cure for drunkenness and The Bush hotel. The Bush has buried their own capsule.

The 140 seater theatre is a versatile space and much of the interior was recycled or home made from materials found on site. I loved the lob-sided set for Chalet Lines.

Theatrical loos: papered with old pages from different plays!

WWW.BUSHTHEATRE.CO.UK

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The surreal world of M&Ms!

M&M World, selling confectionery and merchandise, is housed over 4 floors in Leicester Square. It is huge, very bright, lit by neon/spot lights and decorated in harsh primary colours. Although it seemed like a cross between Disney land and a petrol station shop, there was something about the concept that drew me in to the cavernous space and endeared me to the M&M life size characters, especially the green dame! (Although they looked asthough they were trying to escape!)

I think she's heading to the exit as fast as her dinky boots will carry her!

I was struck by this surreal and bizarre environment, complete with mixing laboratory and periodic tables, yet despite all the gimmicks, it felt devoid of any atmosphere! But I guess their target market of tourists and children, will love it and happily part with their M&Money!

I did like the exterior lighting! Shame it wasn't replicated within the store

  

"Help! Get me out of here!"

 

Very sinister looking!

Trapped in these clinical dispensers, the M&Ms reminded me of pills!!

London's strangest attraction!