Borough Market and the Floral Hall

The extension of the Royal Opera House was the opportunity for the Floral Hall to flourish once more. The planning agreement stipulated that a suitable home be found for the Floral Hall. Accordingly, the main bulk of the iron and glass structure was incorporated into the new building to form the Vilar Hall, but one small part was left in the Royal Opera House storerooms in Wales - the Portico. Enter stage left, the Trustees of the Borough Market.

The venerable Borough Market has occupied its present site since 1756, experiencing changing fortunes over the years. By the 1980s and 1990s decline was making its future look bleak. Seeking to redress this, and unwilling to abandon the market function as had happened at Covent Garden, the Trustees of the Borough Market had the vision to plan a quality food venue - London's Larder. This retail market was to work alongside, and enhance, the surviving wholesale market.

However, the infrastructure was crumbling, and for the project to succeed the Trustees had to regenerate the area by enhancing the market heritage of Borough. The market still has some impressive iron market structures, some newly restored, but many of the most striking early buildings, including the great dome, were either lost to railway encroachment in the mid-nineteenth century or to subsequent bombing and fire. The abandoned Portico from Covent Garden's Floral Hall would be the perfect addition - to form the entrance to a new Floral Hall at Borough Market. How could anyone possibly refuse such a fortuitous match - it would be amongst historic buildings of the same period and yet again put to market use. And so famously the Trustees were able to purchase the portico for a nominal £1.

<<Back   Next>>   1 | 2 | 3 | 4