Soho and Covent Garden: old streets, busy buildings
Soho and Covent Garden are two of the oldest planned parts of the West End. Today they are packed with restaurants, bars, hotels, clubs and theatres. Most of these businesses work inside historic buildings, and the ironwork on the front is part of how they are seen.
Covent Garden came first. In the 1630s Inigo Jones designed an arcaded square and St Paul’s church for the 4th Earl of Bedford. It was something new for London and became a model for later squares. In 1830 Charles Fowler designed the market building at its centre. The market moved out in 1974, and the building reopened as a shopping centre in 1980. The Royal Opera House, which now takes in the old Floral Hall, and the Theatre Royal Drury Lane are close by.
Soho Square was laid out in 1680 and 1681 and first called King Square, after Charles II. His statue, carved by Caius Gabriel Cibber, still stands in the garden. The small half-timbered hut beside it was built around 1925 to hide an electricity substation. The square’s present railings and gates date from 1959.
A few Georgian houses survive among the bars. On Meard Street, built by John Meard around 1732, the houses keep wrought iron area railings with urn-shaped finials.
What hospitality ironwork looks like here
West End frontages are narrow and close together, so ironwork has to work hard. A canopy marks the door. A bracket holds the sign. Railings guard a basement light well. Inside, a staircase or a balustrade on a mezzanine often sets the tone for the whole room.
The best pieces here feel like part of the building, even when they are new. On a Georgian front in Soho, that might mean slim bars and simple scrolls. In a Covent Garden theatre or hotel, it can be richer, with more ornament and a gilded or bronzed finish inside.
Ironwork we make for West End venues
Entrance canopies
We design glazed and solid canopies with forged brackets. They give guests shelter and help a door stand out on a crowded street.
Staircases and balustrades
From basement bars to hotel mezzanines, we forge balustrades and handrails to suit the space. We can work with timber, brass or forged iron handrails. Openings must stop a 100mm ball passing through.
Signage brackets
A hanging sign is still the clearest way to be found in Soho’s narrow streets. We forge projecting brackets in traditional or modern styles.
Lighting
Forged chandeliers, wall lights and lanterns can be finished waxed, blackened, bronzed or gilded with gold leaf. A qualified electrician wires and installs them.
Fixtures and bespoke pieces
We also make bar foot rails, screens, gates for courtyards and one-off decorative pieces, drawn to your designer’s brief.
Building work around the ironwork
New ironwork in an old building usually needs building work too. A new staircase needs an opening in the floor, trimmed and made good. A canopy needs strong fixings into old brick or stone, and the façade may need repair around them. Railings need a sound plinth.
We handle this side as well. We can form stair openings, build up landings, repair brickwork and stone around fixings, and make good plaster and finishes once the ironwork is in. On a basement bar, we can repair the light well and the steps down from the street. Having one team for both keeps the programme short, which matters when a venue is closed for a fit-out.
Planning and consent
Most of Soho and Covent Garden is controlled by Westminster City Council. Soho is in the Soho Conservation Area. Most of Covent Garden is in the Covent Garden Conservation Area, created in 1971. North of Long Acre, the streets around Seven Dials fall under Camden Council, in the Seven Dials (Covent Garden) Conservation Area.
A conservation area is a place the council protects for its history and looks. New canopies, railings or brackets on a front usually need planning permission there. On a listed building you also need listed building consent. Signs can also need advertisement consent. The rules depend on the building and the street, so please check with the right council early in your project. We prepare scaled drawings and a materials list for your architect, designer or planning consultant.
Design: our album or fully bespoke
You can start from our design album, which holds hundreds of proven patterns, and adapt it to your brand. Many venues prefer a fully bespoke CAD design drawn with their interior designer. Nothing is forged until you approve the drawings.
How a commission runs
We survey the site and measure the openings. We agree the design with you or your designer. Each piece is hand-forged in our own workshop. Our London team then installs it, working around your trading hours and deliveries.
If you are opening or refitting a restaurant, bar, hotel or theatre in Soho or Covent Garden, request a quote and tell us about your project.