I thought I was done after Pennington Street, but then I looked at my list and realised I hadn't gone to One Bishops Square, which was not a million miles from where I was (NB my logic skills had flown out of the window by this point, it was a good old walk), and I am SO GLAD I went there because it was the best.
One Bishops Square is the offices of Allen and Overy, who are a big international law firm, and it is a properly big deal. They have an in-house gym and medical centre! They have loads of artwork all over the place! I wouldn’t be surprised if they had sleep pods on site or something!
This was a directed walk around the building and it was really interesting to get to look at another type of office (I realise this sounds sarcastic but it isn't, yes I am that sad) and then there was a roof terrace! (see previous comments about high things).
And then there was ANOTHER roof terrace! Amazing. I could not have asked for a better end to the day.
Next year I will potentially have my sister with me again (the only person who I can rely on to keep up with me for this weekend, sorry everyone else who expressed interest) so Open House 2016 is going to be a blast.
Oh, and finally, I have a side blog on Tumblr where I post pictures of empty London streets, because I like pretending there’s no-one else in the city, so if you’re interested in what London would look like after the zombie apocalypse, it is here: emptylondon.tumblr.com
Thanks for reading!
After that I went off to Pennington Street Docks, because I like docks and goods transport and that kind of stuff (I looooove goods containers, and last year one of my favourite visits was Container City - http://metropolithan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/open-house-london-2014-day-2-part-3.html). Pennington Street is part of the Tobacco Dock area, which a very, very odd area of London. The warehouses weren't that interesting – just some 19th century brick vaults –but it was nice and cool.
I got some new batteries and took myself off to Strada for lunch (seafood pasta, obviously) and checked my plans for the afternoon. I next went off to Stationers’ Hall, which was hidden away off Ave Maria Lane. I didn’t stay too long, as the building was quite small and it was very crowded, but the highlight was actually the garden, which has a whacking great London Plane in the middle of it.
The main part of the hall was built in the 1670s after the previous hall was burnt down in the great fire in 1666, and some of it was restored in the 1950s after bomb damage.
Also I got a cloth bag, which is always nice.
From there I headed up to Drapers’ Hall (attempting 6 Bevis Marks next to the Gherkin, but the queues were unsurprisingly massive), which was another building much bigger than the entrance would suggest (because most of it is hidden back off Throgmorton Street) which had some incredibly ornate interiors. Gold leaf all over the shop.
Drapers' Hall has been on its current site since 1543 but it has been rebuilt twice in that time, and some of the current building dates from the second half of the 19th century. I could narrow it down more than that but then we'd be here all day. Let's not even talk about the number of architects who've worked on the building.
