ARCADES PROJECT

It may not be London’s oldest arcade, opening in June 1880, some 60 years after its neighbour the Burlington Arcade, but the Royal Arcade is actually my favourite of London’s shopping arcades, and The Globe newspaper in April 1910, reviewing London’s arcades, called the Royal: “the most imposing and ornamental arcade in London.” Outspoken art…

London’s Burlington Arcade opened in 1819 and has been a role model for many other arcades that opened up around the UK in the following years, becoming the place to see and be seen, and specialising in luxury. In many respects it is still the same today, over 200 years on. Beadles in uniform still…