What’s On Your Desk?
Phil has a box of chocolates, a coat hanger and a roll of loo paper
Not long ago, George Clooney and Tom Cruise used this building to record voiceovers. But it’s no longer operated by Warner Brothers.
Today the building, in Soho, is run by Joel (left) and Phil.
It’s huge, quirky. They rent out different parts of it for various creative and business purposes.
There’s a radio station, a bar, event spaces, sound studios, and a cinema, among other facilities.
This kind of property would normally cost almost £2m a year to run, but it’s in poor condition and while it awaits renovation the landlord let them have it for a peppercorn rent and a share of profit.
There isn’t much profit, to be honest, because there are all kinds of unexpected costs - like, recently, servicing all the aircon units to avoid spreading Legionnaires disease.
That kind of thing.
The project was initially meant to last a year, but has been extended and they’ll soon be in the third year.
The building’s size and lack of investment make it challenging to maintain and sustain, and the pair are obviously knackered.
The rooms on this floor are rented out as offices. Phil uses this one himself. Joel was just visiting.
The red ladder outside was painted by Joel to match tomatoes growing in a planter on the roof.
Those tomatoes were used in special “Soho Bloody Marys”.
Objects on the table include:
- Joel’s thermos flask
- my coffee cup
- someone’s coat hanger
- Lemsip
- tin of chocolates
- water bottle and glass
- laptop
- roll of loo paper
- some kind of tech box with a G on it
The two men have matching fold-up Brompton bicycles in racing green (pictured right). The difference is the handlebars.
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From a series: “Portraits of interesting people in their offices.”