Floral Hall portico

Is anyone's favorite colour gray

having spoken to one of the workmen on the Floral Hall portico relocated from Covent Garden to Borough Market, apparently that gray colour that looks like under coat is the finished so called colour scheme,

After having hired an architectural firm to act as consultant on the recolouration is

GRAY

Really the best they could come up with.

there will be a tiny bits of green on it .Gray with a tiny touch of colour is a very corporate style like Richard Rogers Lloyds building.

The whole of the more london development is gray does London really need more gray buildings

I carn't actually think of a single gray building that wouldn't look better with a splash of colour.


pictures
http://msalkeld1.members.beeb.net



Post edited (30 Apr 04 00:39)

I'd paint it pink !

No, only joking.

I am no architect, but I do watch Grand Designs & Room for improvement on the telly. Which is pretty close to a 7 year course, really.

And when they put up the portico at first they used that green from the market ironwork as a test swatch. Looked good to me.

Kevin O

PS...And I saw Belly of an Architect. I'm nearly qualified !

Perhaps a viewing of the DVD of Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy is called for - doesn't the background to that have shots of the Floral Hall in 1971 immediately before the market moved out?

I have a vague idea that the tasteful "heritage" colour scheme of the 1980s was part of the GLC's general tarting up of the Piazza area, but owed little to history.

Edited to add quotation marks



Post edited (13 Feb 04 16:01)

Just a quick question Michael..are you American??
Only asking as you say GRAY rather than GREY - I know i'm fussy but it's just a little pet hate of mine!!!

I've noticed the grey aswell and think that it should certainly be another color (sic)

Tasteful.

Heritage.

I am slightly lost here, I fear! I suppose this comes down to

1. Not knowing what is being talked about - is there a picture anywhere?
2. Not knowing its period
3. As a result of 1 & 2, not knowing whether Lang Rabbie's T is FIC when he uses the word tasteful, nor indeed knowing whether the same applies to 'heritage'. As in: a Victorian colour scheme applied to an Arts & Crafts installation would be far from tasteful; an A&C everything-in-6-shades-of-beige colour scheme applied to a late Victorian monstrosity might be viewed by some as 'tasteful' though 'Heritage' would be TFIC...

etc. Help! Perhaps I should visit Borough Market at some point.

A bit of Googling led me to Michael's own site which has some photos:

http://msalkeld1.members.beeb.net

gracias

IIRC, the GLC (or was it the nursery that occupied the adjacent space that did the paint job) adopted a relatively muted set of green/blue colours on the portico facing Covent Garden Piazza, which is the bit we've now got at the back of Borough Market.

On the other hand, did the south facing paintwork just fade quickly from a more authentically garish Victorian colour scheme?

There's probably still somebody in the Covent Garden Community Association, who fought to save the Floral Hall from demolition by the Opera House, who could give you chapter and verse on this!

No Im not American I just have bad spelling,

The first thing to be said about my website is that I haven't actually put any pictures of the gray paintwork I was talking about on it yet ,and I don't know when that large picture of the portico in Covent Garden without the roof was taken,

The pictures are of the basic construction work,it did go through a slightly creamy looking faze at one piont which would be ok but a bit boring for Borough Market.

I dont necessarily think it should be painted exactly as it was in Covent Garden,but the colouration wile Covent Garden was activly a vegetable market is a good guideline.and as I remember at the time it was dismantled it looked beautiful

A trendy architectural firm called Stephen Donald architects where asked to provide a consultation on the recolouration of the building.and have mind numbingly decided that it should be painted gray.

.I do think it should be made to look as good as possible ,and corporate gray is the worst possible option ,

If they want to be boring ,(and I dont think thats a good idea) they should paint it cream or white

Gray is worse than boring its proactivly dull.

It just looks like weather sealant or undercoat

And as there are so many grey office buildings going up (which are only colourles as an economy measure)do we really need to paint once colourful historic buildings gray as well .

Its just not goood enough for the now officially best market in the UK ,and a building of that stature

And of course if Themes link goes ahead (and it should be re routed through the elephant and castle ) ,they will make that grey and say, its in keeping with the Floral Hall isen't it,

NIGHT MERE

Michael,

you're right, your spelling is atrocious.

On the other hand I will remember for ever the genius of your phrase: "Gray is worse than boring its proactivly dull".