GRAYS INN ROAD WC1

I used to take my clients to lunch here when my studio was in Northington Street, and one day I discovered that the chap who'd bought and ran the restaurant on the ground floor and basement owned the freehold of the building, where the staircase went up to a common hall on the top floor.

In return for a few free meals, I sketched out a proposal for a new apartment on the flat roof. It seemed like a good idea so we made a formal application. Two and a half years, and one planning appeal later, (the only time I have taken on the Council in Court), we managed to prise consent for this 1 bedroom flat out of Camden, which my client subsequently built (more or less as we designed it).