The Open Guide to London: the free London guide

• Nearest Tube - Bond St

The odd looking building that takes up the space that would be a square in Brown Hart Gardens is rumored to have been built as an elephant house. It is certainly a structure to arouse curiosity. It now houses an electricity sub-station and this was, in fact, the purpose for which it was originally built. Architect C. Stanley Peach was commissioned to design it in 1902, and it opened four years later with an Italian style paved garden on top. The site had previously had a proper communal garden with trees, benches and fountain but had become a hang out for 'undesirables.' The new structure therefore continued to provide residents with a communal garden while accommodating transformers below. At the time, the garden aroused some controversy over its artistic qualities - the baroque architecture not entirely being in keeping with the surrounding buildings. According to British History Online (where fuller information is available) "the 'garden' is perhaps the only place in London where quarrelling is specifically forbidden by law."

Update 3/7/08 - The paved garden has now been restored and is open to the public.