A Georgian house in Spitalfields, London

 A Georgian house on Princelet Street in Spitalfields is said to be one of the most photographed buildings in the area. It is No 4 Princelet St and the ground floor exterior looks quite dilapidated from the outside. It is Grade II listed.

The four storey house has been home to a succession of migrant families. The property was completed in 1723 and was originally home to Sir Benjamin Truman, who was attracted by the building’s proximity to his family’s brewery. Other houses were used for Huguenot migrants - the UK’s first refugees - and a Huguenot weaver occupied No 4. Since then the area has been home to Irish linen workers, Eastern European Jews, Jews from the Netherlands, and most recently members of Spitalfields’ large Bangladeshi community - it is adjacent to Brick Lane.

The inside is not normally open to the public. However in Oct 2022 it was open, for an art exhibition, Christo – Early Works. So I went to have a look at the house. 

I had never heard of the artist Christo. He was known for large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and landscape elements wrapped in fabric. For this exhibition, it’s his smaller scale works that are on display, mostly from the 1960s and 70s, depicting everyday objects veiled in fabric or plastic and bound with rope or twine. I must admit I found them all very strange and didn't bother to pick up a large booklet of the artwork, as I was more interested in the house.

The ground floor front room -

The back room has stairs (closed) to the first floor with a skylight -

I liked the old radiators around the house -

We were allowed to go up to the upper three floors. 

A very small fireplace on the top floor -

Looking over to Christ Church Spitalfields

and the neighbouring buildings, looking down on chimney pots -

Same view from one floor down -

View from the front top floor window, the chimney pots on Princelet Street -

 The exhibition is part of a a new program, Gagosian Open, which will have temporary projects sited  in unusual contexts. 

See more on the Christo exhibition. And from the same page, some info on the house -

And see more on No 4 Princelet Street. 

And my blog on the Truman Brewery.

Post Building roof garden & viewing platform

 The roof garden atop the Post Building in central London is a beautiful and peaceful place offering great views over London. It is not as high as the viewing platforms on the skyscrapers in the City, but is still tall enough to look over the landscape from a peaceful setting. And not many people know about it. When I went on a sunny September day there were only 4 other people there when I arrived and after a while I was the only person and had the place to myself.

The Post Building is located by the junction with 5 roads, with New Oxford Street on the north side and Museum St (which leads to the British Museum) on the west. The site used to be a Royal Mail sorting office and has now been transformed and used by corporate offices and although the main entrance is on Museum St, the entrance to the roof garden is through a small door on New Oxford St. There is now a permanent sign over the door.

Inside the small lobby you have to present photo ID and go through a security search. Fake staircase -

A lift then takes you up to the roof garden on level 9. Stepping out I was surprised at how quiet it was, no traffic noise except for the occasional siren.

The Shard on the right and the City centre background -

The Post Office tower and in the centre is St Georg'es Church with the British Museum behind -   

Along one wall is a series of bee houses with information about the bees -

Russel Square, this building is now a hotel -

Looking south into the sun, with the London Eye (and a crane in the way!) and Victoria coach station to the right -

There is an incredibly clean toilet. Although a large part of the roof is not open to public access, the roof garden is definitely worth a visit and it is especially nice to be away from hoards of tourists!

See more on The Londonist. And on Look Up London.

 

The Garden at 120 viewing platform

For some years there were only a couple of viewing platforms on high rise London buildings that were open to the public. One of the best known is the Sky Garden in the walkie talkie building at 20 Fenchurch Street. It opened in 2017 and was London's highest public garden, on the 36th to 38th floors. I haven't been up there as the only time I tried to visit, it was closed!

In the last year or so, there are more high rise viewing platforms opening up. In April 2023 I went to The Garden at 120. This is at the top of the Fen Court building at 120 Fenchurch Street. At 15 storeys up, it is London's largest public rooftop space. 

Entry is free and there is no need to book. The day I went there was a queue but it moved quickly. You have to go through security before taking the lift.

As I got out of the lift on the 15th floor, I was surprised at how big the garden is. 

The walkie talkie building with the Sky Garden -

The Gherkin, with 41 floors -

St Paul's Cathedral -

There were quite a few gulls flying around, they probably scavenge crumbs from people eating in the gardens. Tower bridge and the Tower of London -

Looking (through glass) to the south with the Crystal Palace masts on the horizon -

And time to go back down -