Yesterday, the children from Soho Parish School buried a time capsule on Regent Street.
The capsule, which containted children’s letters to the future, an iPhone from the Regent Street Apple Store, and yesterday’s newspapers was buried beneath Regent Street’s Quadrant 3 redevelopment. It’ll be opened in 50 years’ time. (We can’t help wondering what people will think of the iPhone in 2060… will it look all old-fashioned, like a Sony Walkman today??!)
The Quadrant 3 project sounds really interesting. It’s all about restoring one of the UK’s largest collection of Grade I listed art deco spaces – the historic Atlantic Bar & Grill, Titanic Restaurant and Chez Cup – to their former glory. In addition, there’ll be offices, restaurants, shops and residential spaces, as well as a massive (44,000sq ft) public space: the most significant addition to the West End’s public spaces since Trafalgar Square.
The restoration project includes Edwardian architectural features such as veneered wooden panels, marble linings, brass edging, light fittings, mirrors and even embossed wallpaper. Ceiling and wall fittings are being removed, cleaned and replaced. Where details are time-worn and beyond repair, they’ve been recreated using latex moulds. A particularly challenging aspect of the process has been repairing the elegantly embossed Lincrusta wallpaper. The fabric is being cleaned, restored and redecorated to the original design.
And we hope the children who added their poems, letters and stories to the time capsule will enjoy this restored section of London’s West End for years to come.
Love it or loathe it, we’re just one day away from December and you can’t put off your 
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