The Victoria Newspaper 2017

AUTUMN 2017 ISSUE

A slice of the action

Victoria’s transformation from thoroughfare to central hub of food, culture, shopping and luxury living

WELCOME TO THE IS SU E

THIS IS VICTORIA London is a city that’s constantly on the move, and nowhere has seen more significant change in recent years than Victoria. Over the past decade Landsec has invested millions of pounds into transforming Victoria St and its environs – and it’s not just about giving the place a quick spring clean and sticking up a couple of shiny new skyscrapers. Investing means taking the time and energy necessary to change the landscape of an area and, ultimately, to give it a new lease of life for everyone to enjoy. What was once a place to travel through is now home to thoroughly modern office space, architecturally spectacular homes, designer fashion boutiques and a host of new restaurants from some of the city’s most respected names. Since the last Victoria Newspaper in spring 2016, we’ve welcomed a variety of new businesses to the area, including Hugo Boss and Bill’s, with a new Nespresso boutique opening soon. This issue is a celebration of all that’s been achieved over the last ten years, with the launch of Nova Food and The Nova Building residential apartments being the proverbial cherry on the cake. Bold, ambitious, dynamic, exciting. This is Victoria.

Sign up to the Victoria newsletter for the latest news and events: createvictoria.com

FACT

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T H E R E C O R D - B R E A K I N G N U M B E R O F T O N Y AW A R D S H A M I LT O N W A S N O M I N AT E D F O R I N 2 0 1 6 .

IT SCOOPED AN IMPRESSIVE 11. THE SMASH-HIT MUSICAL AL SO WON A PRESTIGIOUS PULITZER P R I Z E I N T H E S A M E Y E A R . T H O S E L U C K Y E N O U G H T O H AV E S E C U R E D T I C K E T S C A N C AT C H T H E F I R S T U K P E R F O R M A N C E S AT T H E R E F U R B I S H E D V I C T O R I A PA L A C E T H E AT R E F R O M N O V E M B E R .

SOC IAL MEDIA

TRE NDING NOW WE RECENTLY ASKED THE TWIT TERSPHERE, ‘WHAT’S BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE #NOVAFOOD MEAL SO FAR?’

Shake Shack cheeseburger and fries is a winner for a Friday lunch. The chocolate milkshake is a must #teamlunch #NovaFood @AmyR abb

Bottomless brunch at Timmy Green is top of my list so far. I am looking forward to trying Hawaiian at Ahi Poké though – looks amazing! @rachaelhealy93

Greenwood is one of the best in Victoria.

I went for the first time last night, got to recommend the cocktails! @robbie_wallace

Summer in the city Landsec saw the summer season out with a bang following a series of fun-filled events. The Great Victoria Cake-Off in June was a feast for the senses with a mouth-watering array of entries, and the event raised almost £500 for Barnardo’s childrens’ charity. The winning creation, “Game, Set, Matcha”, by Hai Cenato (pictured above) was flavoured with matcha tea and styled as a tennis ball. Wimbledon fever took over in July with Grand Slam highlights streamed live on the Cardinal Place Roof Garden. M Victoria St put on a delicious barbecue and Harry Brompton’s served ice teas to keep spectators refreshed. Later in the month, food writer and photographer Giulia Mulè hosted an Instagram masterclass, sharing her top tips over dinner at Timmy Green. Attendees had the perfect opportunity to share their new and improved foodie snaps on National Burger Day, which is celebrated at the end of August.

Does wine from Vagabond count?? @Abrahamcork

Rail House Café do the best weekend brunches.

Love the avocado smoothie @bethsalmen

C OV ER I L LU S T R AT I O N: JAC K H U D S O N

ROUND UP

CREATEVICTORIA.COM #novafood @createvictoria

Discover London’s most exciting new culinary destination, with 17 innovative restaurants and outdoor seating in a stunning public realm.

Q&A

KITCHEN TALK INTERVIE WS GEMMA BILLINGTON

HELENA PUOLAKKA Executive head chef at Aster aster-restaurant.com

Head chef at Stoke House thestokehouse.com

What is the concept of Rail House Café?

A modern, all-day café with a menu of unique signature twists to international favourites. The menu offers healthy choices for everyday dining alongside weekend indulgences.

What is the concept of Aster?

Nordic-French cuisine, casual, relaxed-yet-elegant dining, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a journey from deli to café and restaurant with super-sexy interiors.

What is the concept of Stoke House?

We’re offering a modern twist on the British carvery, serving deliciously smoked meats and seasonal produce, sourced from award-winning, UK-based suppliers.

What’s the signature dish?

Breakfast and brunches have been a key focus for us, with a menu of nine different ways to enjoy your eggs, including our unique hybrid eggs Benedict and burger dish – the ‘Burgerdict’.

What’s the signature dish?

Scallop carpaccio with sea buckthorn and liquorice, and meatballs with mash and lingonberries. There’s also the blackcurrant herrings with sour cream and Jersey Royals, and the toast skagen and cinnamon buns.

What’s the signature dish?

Our best-selling dish is the 28-day aged Cornish short rib, served with pickled chilli, red onions and Cornish sea salt. It’s really delicious!

What do you like about being in Nova?

Our location in Nova Food means we’re at the heart of this burgeoning foodie hotspot in the capital. It’s exciting to be a part of Victoria’s regeneration and growing reputation as a destination rather than a place people travel through!

PRUE FREEMAN

What do you like about being in Nova?

It’s great to be part of a new development, it feels like the early days at Southbank when I opened Skylon. We are bringing people to Victoria and helping to change the area.

PAUL HOOD

PETE DENHART

What do you like about being in Nova?

It’s really exciting to be part of such a dynamic new development, and Nova Food is putting Victoria firmly on the map. As a dining destination it’s diverse and the quality of restaurants in the area is high.

DAN BLUCERT

Founder of Timmy Green daisygreenfood.com

Chef patron at Hai Cenato haicenato.co.uk

Head chef at Greenwood greenwoodlondon.com

What is the concept of Timmy Green?

It’s a lively, laid-back all-day Aussie café with great coffee and bold, fresh food; the kind of place where you come for brunch and end up staying for drinks and dinner.

What is the concept of Hai Cenato?

Hai Cenato is a modern mid-market style restaurant based around Italian restaurants with a New York vibe.

What is the concept of Greenwood?

Greenwood is a great place for all-day dining and drinking, from breakfast, lunch, pre/post-theatre dining to weekend brunches and late-night sports in our premium Sports Lounge. It’s your one-stop-shop just opposite Victoria station.

What’s the signature dish?

Our banana bread sandwich is hard to beat; two slices of banana bread loaded with mascarpone, berries, flaked almonds and honey. For lunch, I love the sashimi salad and for dinner it’s the prawn, watermelon and feta salad and 60-day dry aged ribeye.

What’s the signature dish?

Our main signature dish is a starter of roasted octopus, served with Cornish squid, braised lentils, smoked bacon, smoked ham and finished with a salsa verde. We also have a good range of pizzas; the best selling is probably our homemade fennel sausage with proscuitto and stracciatella cheese.

What do you like about being in Nova?

Victoria was our first ‘permanent’ street-food location when we started back in 2012, so it’s kind of like coming home.

It’s amazing to see how far the area has come on since then.

What do you like about being in Nova?

We love being in the Nova development, it’s a brand new complex and it’s still growing. Every day there are new people, new faces coming through the doors and new businesses arriving.

What’s the signature dish?

I think it would have to be our crispy buttermilk chicken burger.

It sounds simple but we have made it a winning dish by adding grilled chilli cheddar, charred corn purée and pickled peppers.

What do you like about being in Nova?

I like the variety of outlets here and the fact that all of the restaurants and bars are places I would like to visit – Nova Food provides so much more than a generic high street offering.

THE AUTUMN 2017 ISSUE

ETIENNE BRUWER

Executive chef at Rail House Café railhouse.cafe

Chef ’s table FOOD

M R E S TA U R A N T S E X E C U T I V E C H E F M I K E R E I D A N D I B É R I C A G R O U P H E A D C H E F C É S A R G A R C Í A TA L K A B O U T G R E AT P R O D U C E , S I G N AT U R E D I S H E S AND LESSONS LEARNED IN THE KITCHEN WORDS GEMMA BILLINGTON

CÉSAR GARCÍA

Group head chef, Ibérica Victoria Street

M

MIKE REID

Executive chef, M Restaurants

E

ver since I was young, I’ve wanted to be a chef. I was the strange kid that used to be cooking with his mum on the weekends but I didn’t really get into it properly until I was at uni. I was studying business and marketing in Portsmouth and would cook on weekends – soon I was cooking more than I was going to uni. After graduating, I did a modern day apprenticeship and never looked back – once I was in the kitchen I knew it was what I wanted to do. It was while working at Gaucho that I fell in love with beef. I spent a lot of time in Argentina and I developed an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into it. I worked with Martin [Williams, M founder] at Gaucho and I left before him to go to Australia for six months. He phoned me up about three months into my trip to tell me about his idea, and asked whether I’d be his chef if it all came together. I started working on the menu pretty much straight away. I’d like to say I have 100 per cent control of the food, but Martin is very opinionated – he’s not a quiet CEO! But from the very beginning it’s been my baby. One of the best cuts on our menu is black wagyu, which we get from a little farm in Australia and, for me, it’s the best in the world. My time in Australia took me back to the basics of being a chef, it taught me about having those relationships with farmers and fishermen. For me it’s all about great produce; when my guys call me up and tell me about something new, I get excited. The better the relationship you have with your supplier, the better quality food you’ll have in your restaurant.

M Victoria St, 76 Victoria St, SW1E 6SQ; mrestaurants.co.uk

y mother and grandmother were really good chefs at home, so I grew up around the stoves of their kitchens.

I remember running into the kitchen at both my mother and grandmother’s houses to be greeted by the smell of a homecooked meal and I’d be given something to eat. It’s a memory you always have. I’m from Asturias in the north of Spain, same as Nacho Manzano, our executive head chef, with whom I work closely. The north used to be quite isolated from central Spain by the mountains, so we had to use the local produce available in our cooking. We have kept this traditional philosophy when creating Ibérica’s menu, sourcing top-quality products from Spanish producers. We also work directly with local producers; by cutting out the middleman, we can offer better quality at a better price for our guests. In our menu, we showcase traditional Spanish dishes as well as some with a more modern twist. One of our most popular dishes is the croquetas de jamón. This recipe was passed to Nacho by his grandmother Gloria, and it’s also a very popular dish at his two Michelin-starred restaurant Casa Marcial in Asturias. Following the traditional recipe, and to get the perfect creaminess, our croquetas’ dough is stirred constantly and manually for four to five hours, then it settles for at least 12 hours before it can be cooked for everyone to enjoy. Such a simple-looking dish, but it takes a lot of effort and care to make them right. This is the effort and care that we try to put into each dish we cook at Ibérica.

Ibérica, 68 Victoria St, SW1E 6SQ; ibericarestaurants.com

RECIPE

CHOCOLATE SWIRL MERINGUES MAKES 12

Bill’s Cardinal Place, 6 Cathedral Walk, SW1E 5JL; bills-website.co.uk

It’s amazing that you can turn such simple ingredients into something as glorious as a meringue – and with such little effort. Which is why making them brazen and bouffant, rippling them with colour and then piling them high, is so befitting.

INGREDIENTS

100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped or broken into pieces 3 large egg whites 150g caster sugar cocoa powder, to serve METHOD

1) Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/ Gas Mark 2 and line a large baking tray with parchment.

2) Heat the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

3) Put the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form.

Add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously until all the sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is very stiff and glossy.

4) Drizzle the cooled melted chocolate over the meringue and use a metal spoon to fold it gently through to create a marbled effect with streaks running through the mix.

5) Carefully place spoonfuls of meringue in 12 large dollops on the baking tray, making billowing peaks on each one with the back of the spoon.

6) Cook the meringues for 30 minutes.

Turn the oven off and then leave them to cool and dry overnight.

7) Dust with cocoa powder before serving.

From Bill’s The Cookbook: Cook, Eat, Smile

by Bill Collison and Sheridan McCoid (Published by Headline)

C OV E R S TO RY

VICTORIA’S 10-YEAR TRANSFORMATION W O R D S E D W I N A L A N G L E Y I L L U S T R AT I O N P E T E R G R E E N W O O D

V

ictoria has long been a hotspot for excellent transport links, with holiday-makers particularly grateful for the Gatwick Express direct service, but today it has evolved into a destination in itself: a central hub of business, fashion, food and culture.

The 10-year transformation of Victoria has seen the district come to life. Architectural feats such as Nova North and Nova South have arisen, and now house an exciting mix of business: from the corporate – Motorola Solutions and Sky – to the gastronomic: Jason Atherton’s Hai Cenato and Adam White’s Rail House Café. With Cardinal Place and Victoria Street hosting Zara, Hugo Boss, Mango and – later this year – Nespresso, and Curzon showing all the latest flicks,

when it comes to a new and vibrant district purpose-built for Londoners, Victoria ticks all the boxes.

‘When you imagine the before and after, I still can’t quite believe it,’ says Colette O’Shea, managing director, Landsec.

‘It was an undeveloped part of the West End. It had all the transport links and area to create the big office floor plate.

It was at a time when the leases in the government buildings were coming to an end, so it was a real opportunity.

‘For me, the biggest transformation is the public realm.

When you see people sitting enjoying themselves – not just business people, but families – I still can’t believe it.’

Here, we take a look at 10 eminent businesses that call Victoria home.

ROLLS-ROYCE Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Limited manufactures luxury cars that take their name from ‘Rolls-Royce Limited’, the company set up in 1906 by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. rolls-royce.com

BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION Launched in 2000 by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, the foundation was conceived to help people in need. The grant payments it has made now amount to over $36.7bn. gatesfoundation.org

T H E C H A N G I N G FAC E O F V I C T O R I A S T R E E T N OVA T O T A L L I N G 7 2 7, 0 0 0 S Q F T COMPLETED: 2017

V I C TO RIA PA L AC E T H E AT R E OPENED: 1910 REOPENING: NOVEMBER 2017

V I C T O R I A S TAT I O N NORTH TICKET HALL AND ENTRANCE OPENED: JA N UA RY 20 17

CARDINAL PL ACE SIZE: 515,000 SQ F T COMPLETED: 2006

JUPITER Jupiter Asset Management was set up as a ‘specialist investment boutique’ over 30 years ago by British financier John Duffield. Today, it manages investments of around £43.5bn. jupiteram.com

ALBOURNE Albourne Partners is one of the largest hedge fund advisers in the world.

Their 265 clients have invested an estimated $400bn+ in alternative investments. No mean sum . eu.albourne.com

WORLDREMIT Online money transfer service WorldRemit was founded by Ismail Ahmed in 2010. Ahmed launched his business while doing an MBA at London Business School. worldremit.com

EGON ZEHNDER Global executive search firm Egon Zehnder was founded in 1964 by Egon P S Zehnder. The first office opened in Zurich that same year. Today, Egon Zehnder has 69 offices worldwide. egonzehnder.com

INTUIT Intuit is a business and financial software company providing financial management solutions to small businesses and individuals. It now has an estimated 42 million customers. intuit.com

THE TELEGR APH Created by Arthur B Sleigh in 1855, the British newspaper was originally called the Daily Telegraph and Courier.

It has the biggest circulation of any broadsheet in the UK. telegraph.co.uk

CHANNEL 4 Channel 4, one of the major British TV channels, launched in 1982. Its most-watched programme ever aired just three years later; A Woman of Substance amassed 13.9million viewers in 1985. channel4.com

K I N G S G AT E SIZE: 108,700 SQ F T COMPLETED: 2016

P H OTO G R A P H S C O U RT ESY O F J I M M Y C H O O; S H O

THE ZIG ZAG BUILDING SIZE: 190,000 SQ FT COMPLETED: 2015

6 2 B U C K I N G H A M G AT E S I Z E : 2 5 7, 0 0 0 S Q F T COMPLETED: 2013

THE AUTUMN 2017 ISSUE

CHIME COMMUNICATIONS Marketing business Chime has created campaigns for Airbnb and Easyjet.

Arguably its best-known came through one of its agencies, VCCP. It introduced meerkats to comparethemarket.com. chimegroup.com

ART

IN FOCUS:

ART & DESIGN AT NOVA WORDS EL AINE O’CONNELL

F RO M S P EC I A L LY C O M M I S S I O N E D A RT WO R K TO O N E- O F- A - K I N D F U R N I S H I N G S , T H E R E S TAU R A N T S AT N OVA F O O D H AV E S E T A N E W S TA N DA R D O F I N T E R I O R I N S P I R AT I O N

M

odern restaurants may be a dab hand at Instagramworthy food presentation, but at Nova Food, the most eye-catching creations are often those found away from the plates. Nova’s residents eschew interior schemes that play it safe in favour of ones that express creativity and personality through bespoke furnishings and curated artwork.

One-of-a-kind pieces are key to Nova’s eclectic aesthetic; from artist Mr Doodle’s frenetic mural at Sourced Market to the BrewDog beer can flag at Stoke House and the equally playful neon signs at Hai Cenato. Jason Atherton’s vision for an Italian by way of NYC restaurant was brought to life by interior

This page, clockwise from top left Aster does Scandi chic; Hai Cenato’s The Drunken Oyster cocktail bar; ‘KissKissBamBam’ by artist Louise Dear at Timmy Green; ‘Lone Rangers’ by street artist Shuby, also at Timmy Green

specialist Russell Sage Studio, who created an industrial yet homely scheme featuring peeling wallpaper, vintage light fixtures and red leather booths. Village London founder Adam White – who studied industrial design in his native New Zealand – went one step further than most restaurateurs by designing many of the Rail House Café’s custom furnishings himself.

Aster, from D&D London, meanwhile, with its marble, rose gold and floral flourishes, is a masterclass in modern Scandi-chic.

Speaking of flowers, it’s hard to miss the blossom-haired, crystal-encrusted beauty painted in an original piece by artist Louise Dear, which takes pride of place in the stairwell

at Timmy Green. The Aussie-inspired café is renowned for its quirky art collection, which also includes saucy X-ray specs and banana-toting cowboys by street artist Shuby.

Nova’s commitment to showcasing unique, contemporary art goes beyond what’s inside the restaurants. Visitors will have noticed perspex boxes dotted around the public realm featuring the work of multimedia artist Saad Qureshi. The series, entitled ‘Places for Nova’, is the first chapter in an ongoing public art initiative and was inspired by the real-life experiences of people who live, work and travel to Victoria. So, next time you’re at Nova, peek up from your plate and take a proper look around…

GROOMING

HEALTH & BEAUTY

WHAT ’ S NE W D O N ’ T M I S S T H I S M O N T H ’ S L AT E S T L AU N C H E S I N V I C TO R I A

NATURAL WONDER

Jo Malone London, 4A Cardinal Place jomalone.co.uk Jo Malone London is embracing autumn with the launch of the new English Oak Collection. Discover it at the Victoria boutique, where on Thursday 21 or Saturday 23 September you’ll be treated to a glass of British sparkling wine, massage and the chance to personalise your own gift box.

INTERVIE W GEMMA BILLINGTON PHOTOGR APHY TRENT McMINN

RO RY M AC PA R L A N D – A K A M I S T E R S H A R P S – P RO P R I E TO R O F S H A R P S B A R B E R A N D S H O P, O N B R A N C H I N G I N TO V I C TO R I A A N D W H Y W E ’ R E S AY I N G G O O D BY E TO B E A R D S

What is the story behind Sharps?

My background is in sales and marketing. I had a couple of businesses of my own and I was actually writing a book on shaving for young men. Then I met a guy who was in the grooming business and we started developing a new barber shop concept. I noticed that there weren’t very many places geared towards men where you could get a great haircut, a great drink on the house, enjoy a good atmosphere and nice interior design.

We opened our first shop on Charlotte Street in 2007 and we were the first barber shop to open in Topman. We also opened a hotel barber shop in New York and now this one in sports bar Greenwood is a natural evolution.

What kind of services do you offer?

We do the traditional range of barber shop services; haircut, buzzcut, beard and moustache trim, hot towel treatment – but we accept anybody, no matter their age or gender. We’ll do an undercut on a girl as quick as we’ll run some grey out of a man of a certain age. It’s come one, come all!

Why did you decide to open in Greenwood?

It was a great opportunity to open here. The brothers (Ed and Tom Martin, ETM Group founders) had a great vision for the place. It was also a ready-made audience as there’s lots of guys coming to visit the sports bar and a really good footfall around Victoria. We love this kind of hybrid space too.

What do you like about being in Victoria?

Victoria is so accessible and there is such a variety of people around here. There’s a lot of business in the area and a lot of people are attracted to Nova in particular, as it’s so fresh and ready for a new commercial enterprise.

WORK UP A SWEAT

Gymbox Victoria, 123 Victoria Street gymbox.com Overdone it on the sangrias this summer? Get your fitness back on track at Gymbox Victoria, which has recently undergone a major expansion to make way for more classes than ever. Now a whopping three times bigger, it means there’s more space for all your favourites, including surfset, circusfit, combat circuits and caveman workouts.

Can you tell us of any hidden gems in the area?

I do love the street food market in Cardinal Place and one of my favourite Italian restaurants in London is here. It’s called Cacio & Pepe and it’s down on Churton Street. And of course the riverside is only 10 minutes away.

What trends are you noticing for beards and hairstyles?

I actually think we hit peak beard last year. We’ve definitely seen a lot of guys taking the beards off, especially over the summer. In terms of hairstyles, we’re seeing a lot of long hair, a lot of textures.

We’re using a lot more salt in our products, which creates a kind of beachy, fuzzy look, which is very cool.

Have you had any personal hair disasters?

We always do funny stuff to our hair when we’re young. I was in the Air Cadets in Canada on basic training. Someone suggested I put peroxide in my hair to lighten it up. I was nicknamed copper top for the rest of basic training as my hair went bright orange.

I also had a goatee at one point, which was not a good look. sharpsbarbers.com/barbershops/victoria-london.php

KIKO MILANO AT 20

KIKO Milano, 135 Victoria Street kikocosmetics.com This September marks 20 years of Italian beauty innovator KIKO Milano. To celebrate its milestone anniversary, the brand is releasing seven limited-edition capsule collections produced in collaboration with seven emerging designers; each one encompassing KIKO’s values of colour, talent and creativity. Catch them while you can.

THE AUTUMN 2017 ISSUE

A CUT ABOVE

Taking centre stage C U LT U R E

PAU L TAY LO R- M I L L S , T H E DY N A M I C O L I V I E R AWA R D -W I N N I N G A RT I S T I C D I R EC TO R O F T H E OT H E R PA L AC E T H E AT R E TA L K S A B O U T R E I M AG I N I N G M U S I C A L T H E AT R E I N LO N D O N WORDS AMY R APHAEL

This page Paul Taylor-Mills: ‘We like to think of ourselves as the more bespoke theatre down the road’ Opposite Inside Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new theatre The Other Palace in Victoria

W

hen Andrew Lloyd Webber acquired the St James Theatre last year, he checked in with the Queen when changing its name to The Other Palace.

Given the theatre’s proximity to Buckingham Palace, he was keen to know if she approved. Apparently she did, although one is still waiting for her to pay the newly refurbished theatre a visit.

There’s no doubt Her Majesty would approve. The theatre, which had lain dark throughout the 1990s before being destroyed by fire in 2002, was rebuilt as the St James Theatre in 2009.

Lloyd Webber then bought the theatre to develop new musicals.

He has referred to it as the ‘Royal Court for musicals’.

The British have been snobbish about musicals for a long time; for some they simply aren’t ‘proper theatre’. Yet the huge

success of Wicked in the Apollo Victoria Theatre and Billy Elliot the Musical at Victoria Palace Theatre proved the purists wrong – and when that very same theatre reopens this autumn following a refurb, it will host US smash-hit Hamilton. Theatre doesn’t get much bigger than Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about one of America’s founding fathers: its entire eight-month run is sold out.

Paul Taylor-Mills, the charismatic 30-year-old artistic director of The Other Palace, refers to Miranda as ‘a modernday Shakespeare’. Hamilton is a good thing for The Other Palace as it will bring huge audiences into Victoria and show that musicals can be both highbrow and accessible, Taylor-Mills agrees: ‘Hamilton can only be good for theatre worldwide. What

Lin is doing is really interesting; he’s talking in a language we recognise about a subject that might otherwise be dusty. He has made an idea that could, on paper, feel very archaic feel fresh, exciting and visceral’.

As a small boy Taylor-Mills was captivated by the ‘timeless, magical’ moment when the lights go down in the theatre.

He trained as an actor at Bath Spa University, but was drawn first to directing and producing. ‘I started developing a taste for slightly left-of-centre American musicals,’ he says. ‘The show that put me on the map was an adaptation of Miranda’s rap and R&B musical In the Heights, which won three Olivier Awards.’

At the same time, Taylor-Mills was putting on a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game. Lloyd Webber

“

VICTORIA IS NOW A METROPOLITAN MINICITY WITH ITS OWN SUBCULTURE

”

The Other Palace is hoping to change the way musicals are produced, largely due to Lloyd Webber’s experience of working on School of Rock in New York. ‘Instead of doing an out-of-town try-out he held a workshop at The Gramercy, and in doing so saved himself millions of dollars,’ says TaylorMills. ‘We are following a similar model here and our dream is this: we find something in an open mic session in the bar or a submission via our website and it becomes a work-inprogress in the studio before going into the main theatre.

It eventually moves into the West End and we have international licences all over the world.’

‘I might be hugely ambitious, but my feet are firmly on the ground,’ he laughs. ‘Because musicals are not in the British

DNA it’s going to take a year or two until we establish ourselves. For Andrew, it’s a different kind of venture because the other buildings in his portfolio, such as The London Palladium and Drury Lane, are big theatres. We like to think of ourselves as the more bespoke theatre down the road.’

He also talks about partnering with other theatres so they might collectively make more headway with putting on musicals in the UK. Does it help when the Queen gives The Other Palace her blessing? ‘Without doubt,’ muses Taylor-Mills. ‘I’m just waiting for the day when she puts on a headscarf and sunglasses and pops in. After all, she’s only 30 seconds away.’ theotherpalace.co.uk

WHAT ’ S ON THIS AUTU MN

C R A I G S U G D EN; C O U RT ESY RO H 2 0 1 7; U N T I T L ED ( RO O M 1 0 1 ) 2 0 03 – R AC H EL W H I T ER E A D; C O U RT S E Y L I S A- M A R I E M A Z Z U C C O

T H E N I G H T S M AY B E D R AW I N G I N , B U T T H AT ’ S N O E XC U S E TO G O I N TO H I B E R N AT I O N M O D E .

G E T YO U R C U LT U R E F I X W I T H T H E B E S T I N A RT, M U S I C A N D C I N E M A AT T H E S E LO C A L V E N U E S

BALLET

ART

ROH LIVE: ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

Tate Britain; Millbank, SW1P 4RG

St John’s Smith Square, SW1P 3HA

Follow Alice down the rabbit hole in Christopher Wheeldon’s exuberant production of Lewis Carroll’s classic story. Originally staged in 2011, this vibrant production combines bright colour, inventive choreography and eye-popping visual effects.

Autumn means only one thing in the art world: the Turner Prize. While the controversial competition may still be grabbing headlines, Tate Britain is putting the spotlight on Rachel Whiteread, who became the first woman to win the prize in 1993, with a major retrospective of her 25-year career.

The Southbank Centre’s Classical Season returns with concerts taking place at St John’s Smith Square.

Highlights include the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performing The Judas Passion (25 September) and the Emerson String Quartet (pictured) performing Beethoven’s electrifying late quartets.

Monday 23 & Sunday 29 October; curzoncinemas.com/victoria

12 September 2017 – 21 January 2018; tate.org.uk

Curzon Victoria; 58 Victoria St, SW1E 6QW

RACHEL WHITEREAD

CONCERT

CLASSICAL SEASON

Various dates; sjss.org.uk

THE AUTUMN 2017 ISSUE

came to the show, loved it and, after a series of lunches, offered Taylor-Mills an advisory role in his company The Really Useful Group. They were looking for a space in which to develop new work and the old St James Theatre ticked all the boxes.

In the past, Victoria had virtually no night-time economy, despite its two theatres. Since its development, however, the area has become an after-work destination. ‘Victoria is now a metropolitan mini-city with its own subculture,’ says Taylor-Mills. ‘We’re close to Green Park; there’s a Curzon Cinema, brilliant transport links and restaurants galore.

In fact, we have our own restaurant at The Other Palace, called The Other Naughty Piglet, which has impressed even tough-to-please critics and is now often fully booked.’

INTERIORS

The high life C O M B I N I N G 1 9 6 0 s M O D E R N I S M W I T H A L O N D O N R O C K ‘ N ’ R O L L T W I S T, T H E P E N T H O U S E AT T H E N O VA B U I L D I N G O F F E R S L U X U R Y L I V I N G W I T H A S E N S E O F F U N WORDS GEMMA BILLINGTON

T

he completion of Nova is a defining moment for Landsec. But the ones who really get to enjoy the benefits of this landmark new development are those who have just moved in.

The Nova Building is the third and final piece of the Nova development. Designed by Benson & Forsyth architects, this residential building’s distinctive shape and playful use of colour captures the ‘created for individuals’ mantra that underpins the entire Nova scheme.

The building is filled to the brim with modern luxuries including a shared communal lounge, cinema room and roof terrace with spectacular views across Belgravia, Buckingham Palace and beyond. Interior architects Flint designed all 170 apartments; each one finished to the highest possible standard with lavish marble bathrooms, huge open-plan living spaces and state-of-the-art kitchens so beautiful they’re almost too good to use. And to show the versatility of the residences, Landsec enlisted the expertise of renowned design studios to furnish the show apartments.

The task of designing the show Penthouse fell to London practice Bowler James Brindley, who gladly pulled out all the stops. ‘Landsec really bought into the idea of doing something a bit dramatic with this project,’ says BJB co-founder Stephen Crawley. ‘ The whole building is quite “out there” in that it’s a reinterpretation of 1960s and 1970s architecture. There are lots of Le Corbusier and Modernist influences. We picked up on that period and spun into it a kind of 1960s London, rock ‘n’ roll vibe.’

Landsec immediately bought into the concept and gave Bowler James Brindley the green light to proceed. The result is quite spectacular. Nearly every furnishing is bespoke

and everything invites you to sit, touch and play. The giant stairway in the centre of the apartment – complete with drum kit and enough space to assemble an entire orchestra – leads to a second floor dedicated to entertainment, including a decadent bar straight out of the pages of an F Scott Fitzgerald novel and 1960s-style hanging chairs.

‘In order to get that 1960s vibe we used a lot of rich materials as well as mirror and glossy finishes,’ explains co-founder Lucy Southall. ‘There are lots of coloured velvets, rosewood, walnut and textured wallpaper.’

Colour also played a major part in the overall scheme. Rather than playing it safe in classic cream, the team created different colour palettes for nearly every space, experimenting with rich navy, scarlet, gold accents and mint green. Then of course there’s the all-important artwork. A huge photographic image of an underwater performer creates subtle movement in the stairwell, while a replica of The Smith’s Rank album cover, featuring 1960s screen siren Alexandra Bastedo, continues the nostalgia trip.

Then there’s the chainmail Twiggy, which greets visitors at the entrance. According to Crawley this ‘very much sets the tone that this is not your average home’.

The Nova Penthouse is luxury living with a sense of fun, and the underlying retro theme never feels like style over substance. ‘What I like about that period is the spirit of London in the 1960s and what that represents,’ says BJB co-founder Ian Bayliss. ‘It’s new paradigms, new ways of thinking, new fashion and music all coming together in London. This is a building from the 1960s – spiritually – and when you walk in you kind of feel that this is a new way of designing a penthouse.’

Prices at The Nova Building start from £2.2 million; thenovabuilding.co.uk

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H U F TO N + C ROW A N D ED M U N D S U M N ER

THERE ARE A LOT OF LE CORBUSIER AND MODERNIST INFLUENCES

This page From velvet and brass to 1960s-inspired artwork and stunning views, just some of the luxurious benefits of living in The Nova Building Penthouse Opposite The main living area where velvet and walnut design touches emulate a 1960s feel

Contact us to view the exceptional resident’s amenities and exclusive collection of luxury apartments and penthouses with stunning views of Buckingham Palace. thenovabuilding.co.uk

AVAILABLE NOW PRICES FROM £2.2M Savills +44 (0)20 3409 8756 Knight Frank +44 (0)20 3826 0673