Royal Courts of Justice

Behind London’s doors

/ mikeosbornphoto / 9 Comments

It was Open House London weekend recently, giving ordinary people the chance to see buildings that are not usually accessible. This also meant freedom to photograph some of the city’s hidden architectural gems.

We visited five central London buildings – Unilever House, an older shell containing a very modern atrium, the Art Deco brilliance of the former Express Building at 120 Fleet Street, The Royal Courts of Justice, the imposing Freemasons’ Hall and the grandeur of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office headquarters in Whitehall.

Click on the first image to launch the full size gallery

The cathedral of justice

/ mikeosbornphoto / 9 Comments

This building has all the hallmarks of being a lofty place of God or a palace of royalty. Beautiful arches, light flooding through a stained glass window. One of the women on the balcony looks upwards, enraptured.

The other woman, meanwhile, checks her camera. This is The Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand in London, a place where some of the biggest legal cases in the land are contested. Its doors were flung open to visitors, who spent the weekend thronging around its wonderful central hall, taking photographs at every opportunity.

While the Victorian building is magnificent in some areas, in others it’s a place of dusty corridors and has the stench of authority. It was a great opportunity to admire the architecture, huge in scale and created to make you feel small.