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Joia Restaurant + Rooftop Bar Battersea Power Station London

Yarden

It’s a table with one of the best views in London, rivalling that of Decimo in King’s Cross. The bricks of Battersea Power Station are practically within touching distance while PLP Architecture’s Nova development across the Thames in Victoria appears as an improbable pyramid. On the 15th floor of Art’otel, the chain with a penchant for lower case font and upper end modern art, Joia brings Portuguese food to the English Capital. Head Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa is known for his two Michelin starred Alma restaurant in Lisbon.

The Joia vibe is The Great Gatsby or at least Baz Luhrmann’s film version of the novel. Luxury hotel specialist Russell Sage Studio uses a peach and pink led palette of pastels which works especially well under the glow of sunset. It’s an updated Twenties look chiming with the construction date of the Power Station. Porthole like circular mirrors reflect the view. The curved northeast wall is distractingly fully glazed. A sweeping staircase fit for Daisy Buchanan to descend in style links the 85 cover restaurant to the double height bar.

Stretching the literary metaphor, the food is up to East Egg meets West Egg party standards with a heavy dose of Iberian flavour. Somehow the modish plates (as opposed to three standard courses) work in this setting. As the mercury lowers Henrique’s kitchen proves its salt with Padron peppers, asparagus, monkfish, patatas bravas, and crema Catalana with burnt orange ice cream. Surely Henrique will be awarded coveted étoiles en Angleterre. A rooftop bar and infinity pool above Joia is straight out of a Jazz Age book.

Head Sommelier David Nunes explains, “Our wine list offers a wide selection that celebrates the rich heritage, diverse terroirs and centuries old winemaking traditions of Portugal and Spain. Each bottle tells a story of craftmanship and passion from the sun drenched vineyards of Douro valley to the rolling hills of Rioja. Each bottle tells a story of craftmanship and passion. Savour the bold structured reds of Ribera del Duero. Explore Portugal’s distinctive varietals from the deep complexity of Touriga Nacional to the crisp freshness of Vinho Verde.” Or Gaintza Txakolina, Basque rosé colour coordinating with the pink sunset.

Local estate agent Gabriel Cunningham of Dexters sums up the 17 hectare regeneration site, “The Battersea Power Station redevelopment is now the epicentre of the wider area. It ticks every box in terms of bars, restaurants, shopping, children’s activities and social events.” Monumentality on a modest scale is a contradiction so everything about the blocks surrounding the Power Station is big. Really big. Frank Gehry’s two trademark tipsily topsy turvy twisting towers are like his Düsseldorf RheinHafen Arts and Meda Centre on steroids.

Adam, Pugin, Wyatt … the great British architectural dynasties. Plus the Gilbert Scotts. Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811 to 1878) designed St Pancras Renaissance Hotel which has been recycled and upcycled. The output of his grandson Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880 to 1960) has fared just as well. Liverpool Anglican Cathedral still serves its original purpose. His Bankside Power Station on London’s Southbank is celebrating its 25th anniversary as Tate Modern. After closing in the Eighties, Battersea Power Station is now one of the largest multipurpose buildings in Britain.

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Lille Cathedral + Charles Leroy

Pointed Arches Circling the Globe

Mid 19th century England saw a flowering of Gothic Revivalism thanks to William Butterfield, George Gilbert Scott, William White and of course the Pugin dynasty. Across the Channel, things were pretty pointed too. At the dawn of the Second Empire, 200 churches were under construction in France. The Gothic style even enjoyed official State endorsement as Napoléon III garnered support among his Catholic clergy.

It’s 1854. The booming city of Lille is declared a diocese. Time for a church dedicated to a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary behind an iron trellis. An international architectural competition is required. A diktat unsurprisingly declares the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille must be Gothic Revival. What can possibly go wrong? An English Protestant architect winning? Two years later, in the words of one assessor, “L’Angleterre qui a triomphé!” William Burges and his sidekick Henry Clutton take first prize. Quel désastre!

William Burges was the English master of polychromatic romanticism. Witness his slightly bonkers Tower House on Melbury Road, Kensington. A neo medieval mini fortress on an uppity middle class leafy avenue. Dated 1875 to 1881; styled 13th century French Gothic. Not your average architect’s home. But Lille was never to benefit from his Anglican boldness and brilliance. Silver medallist Cuthbert Brodrick’s submission would also remain unexecuted. Much curmudgeonly fudgery later the winner of the third price, the very French and very Catholic Charles Leroy was commissioned to complete the detailed design of the “Cathedral of the North of France” with its buttressed knuckle plan east facing radiating chapels.

The church was indeed upgraded to a cathedral with the establishment of the Lille Bishopric in 1913. But 34 years later the dosh had dried up and Monsieur Leroy’s twin peaked western approach was never executed. Fast forward to the 1990s and the entrance front was finally completed to the design of Lille architect Pierre-Louis Carlier and Irish engineer Peter Rice. Minimalist Gothic. A vast arched recess dominating the façade is filled with 28 millimetre thick white marble which appears opaque outside but allows orangey light to flood the interior. A rose window by painter Ladislas Kijno who lived in Pas-de-Calais illuminates the arch. Candles flicker among contemporary artworks. Overhead, a hanging reads: “Revenez à Dieu: Il Vous Appelle à la Vie en Jésus Christ!”

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Mary Martin London + The Return Collection + Foreign + Commonwealth Office London

Power

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

“You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” croons Lisa-Marie Presley. You ain’t. And you won’t. Not yet. For Mary Martin London is busy sewing up a storm for her forthcoming fashion feat: The Return Collection. This comes hot and heavy on the haute heels of her last extravaganza Blood Sweat and Tears. This time it really is all about power dressing. And the corridors of power are about to be torn up by the thrust and throttle no room for boondoggle of a Mary Martin London show. “If our myths and truths are only another exotic blossoming, the free play of possibility,” writes Marilynne Robinson in The Death of Adam, “then they are fully as real and as worthy of respect as anything else.”

Rooftop The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Show. Not merely catwalk, for Mary will as ever be mixing decks in between directing the lighting, sound, photography, choreography, and always, laughter. There is really only one space that can hold its own for her solo show. Enter Durbar Court. “I like that the heads of the East India Company leaders will be looking down on my catwalk!” Mary howls laughing. “History and all that!” The Court was first used in 1867 for a reception of the Sultan of Turkey. King Edward VII threw his Coronation party here in 1902. Ms Robinson again, “At best, our understanding of any historical moment is significantly wrong, and this should come as no surprise, since we have little grasp of any present moment.” More recently, President Trump gave a speech here; Victoria Beckham showed last summer; Vivienne Westwood before that; but this is a first: a black female designer holding court in Durbar Court.

Downing Street Sign The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Staircase The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Statue The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Muses' Stair The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Empress Eugenie Muses' Stair The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Durbar Court The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Durbar Court Roof The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Durbar Court Arcades The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Columns The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Chandelier Durbar Court The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is accessed off King Charles Street. It backs onto Downing Street. Numbers 10 and 11 can be glimpsed through muslin drapes. Architect George Gilbert Scott and the India Office’s surveyor Matthew Digby Wyatt were the dream design team. Completed in 1875, really it’s a cluster of buildings: the Foreign Office, India Office, Colonial and Home Offices. George Gilbert Scott supplied the august neoclassical cloak of architecture enveloping the inner sanctum of Matthew Digby Wyatt’s grand interior which reaches a climax in Durbar Court, a marvel in Greek, Sicilian and Belgian marble. Three storeys of columns and piers supporting arches rise to the glazed roof. The ground floor Doric and first floor Ionic columns are red Peterhead granite; the top floor Corinthian columns, grey Aberdeen granite. It’s the atrium of atria, arcades in Arcadia.

Frieze The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

There’s so much art and sculpture and history layered with meaning and misapprehension in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. En processional route to Durbar Court is the Muses’ Stair. An octagonal glass lantern lighting the Portland stone staircase is decorated by Canephorae, Roman goddesses of plenty, floating over cherubs representing Roman virtues. Portraits of Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie hang between red Devonshire marble and grey Derbyshire marble Corinthian columns.

2012 Olympic Torch The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

“Dare to be you!” Reverend Andy Rider preached in his last sermon as Rector of Christ Church Spitalfields. Over 100 years ago Lady Sybil Grant wrote in her self hagiography, “Provided that we are a star we should not trouble about the relative importance of our position in the heavens.” Fastforward a century or so and Mary is confident of her place in the firmament. And daring to be Mary Martin London. The creation of Eve. “We should be thankful that our cinematographic life in London still affords the quality of mystery and unexpectedness,” proclaimed Lady Sybil. Big statement.

Mary Martin London The Foreign and Commonwealth Office London © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley

Big statement architecture requires big statement fashion. Another interjection from Marilynne Robinson, “It all comes down to the mystery of the relationship between the mind and the cosmos.” First there was The Black Dress: “I see through a dark cloud of black mist.” Then The Red Dress: “The tainted bride is no longer a virgin.” Next came The White Dress: “I dream of memories when I was a Queen.” There’s only one dress left. The Rainbow Dress: “It’s finally coming – the biggest and the best! The Rainbow Dress will open The Return Collection!” the fashion artist declares. “A world champion ballerina will combine Tai quan dao and African dance on the catwalk. I’m bringing it in a bit different! People haven’t been out so I’m going to give them an amazing show. The Return to Africa. I’m out of the box!” Out of the box and into the Court. “Just A Dream” mourns Lisa-Marie Presley. Not for Mary Martin London. She is all about turning dreams into fantasies into realities into myths and truths. An uncommon wealth of talent.

Mary Martin London Men's Jacket © Lavender's Blue Stuart Blakley