Little Star Homeschool

We stopped for lunch on the Thames Embankment, cheese and tomato sarnies and coffee in the fresh air you can't beat it.

We pointed out the OXO building, ST Pauls and I explained to Robert that this was where his Nana (my mum) walked to and from work and also where my dad courted her. That would have all happened in the 1940's.

The OXO Building

A relic of London's industrial past, the OXO Tower building has been inventively remodeled to engage with the busy cultural and commercial life of the city.

Once lined with grime encrusted warehouses, London's South Bank has gradually evolved into a modern cultural and commercial riverside strip. The stalwart functionalism of industry has given way to a heterogeneous assortment of buildings baying across the River Thames. Just east of the beton brut grandeur of the National Theatre and the execrable King's Reach Tower lies the Oxo building, preserved like an archaeological specimen as the sole reminder of the area's past life. Originally constructed at the turn of the century as a Post Office generating station, it was extensively remodeled as a meat warehouse between 1928 and 1930, acquiring, in the process, its famous Art Deco tower. Punctuated by a trio of glazed apertures that might look like innocuous noughts and crosses, they actually spell out 'OXO', the name of the British meat products company. Designed by A. W. Moore, this brazen appendage cunningly circumvented restrictions on advertising along the river and has now assumed the status of minor London landmark.

After a long period of uncertainty, the original building has now been inventively remodeled for mixed residential and commercial use. Five intermediate floors provide 78 flats for Coin Street Secondary Housing Association (occupied by people who either live or work in the local borough), while the lower three storeys have been refurbished to house designer studios and small speciality shops. On the second floor overlooking the dramatic sweep of the river from St Paul's Cathedral to Charing Cross Station, is a cheerfully demotic cafe designed by Apicella Associates.