Bath House Lofts, 19 Spa Road SE16

This extraordinary Greek Revival building looks as though it was built in the 1820s (think British Museum) but was in fact built in the 1920s. The architect, Henry Tansley, was also responsible for the Moderne/Art Deco Health Centre close by - clearly a man who could turn his hand to any style.

It was built as an annexe to the even grander Victorian Town Hall next door, sadly destroyed in the blitz. 

Inside, there is an amazingly opulent oval entrance hall and palatial staircase, featuring veined marbles of the highest quality. Tansley was able to achieve this on a council budget by buying the stonework from a nobleman's town house in Park Lane that had been demolished. 

There must have been a feeling that at last the working man was benefiting from the finer things in life that the upper classes were no longer able to afford. 

Now, however, the borough has been swamped by the London Borough of Southwark and the local politicians and their bureaucrats have moved out. And, with a superb irony, the building has been converted into loft apartments with price tags starting at just under a million. It's the rich, as the song says, what gets the pleasure.

Bermondsey Health Centre, Grange Road SE1

Bermondsey Health Centre is a classic Moderne style building with Art Deco flourishes (look at those vertical streaks of glass to either side). It was built in 1936 by Henry Tansley, who also designed the Town Hall on the other side of Spa Gardens in a Greek Revival style that could not be a greater contrast.
The Family Group on the facade was carved by Allan Howes, a follower of Eric Gill. A mother holds her baby on her arm while patting the head of her little boy. A charming, rather majestic and unsentimental group.

Alaska Factory, Grange Road SE1

The Alaska Factory was the place where seal skins from Antarctica, Canada and Alaska were unhaired, dressed and dyed for making into waterproof coats, mittens, hats and trousers for explorers, soldiers and the fashionably dressed alike.
The gateway with its charming capstone carved with a seal was built as part of the original factory in 1869. By the 20th century, however, the seal population declined due to overhunting and the company, C.W. Martin, moved into other furs. For a time they made the bearskins for the Guards and in WWII they produced thousands of the iconic sheepskin pilot's jackets.
The factory building behind was rebuilt in 1927 by Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, masters of Art Deco. It is now converted into flats.

Spirit of Soho, Broadwick Street W1

Spirit of Soho was created by a bunch of community activists in 1991 to try and brighten up Carnaby Street, which had sunk from its 1960s hub-of-hip status to dreary alley of tourist tat. And very successfully too.
St Anne, dedicatee of the parish church, is shown as a flame-haired, bare-shouldered beauty very different from her usual portrayal in religious art which shows the mother of Mary with her head and shoulders covered in a cowl like a nun.
St Anne spreads out her skirt to reveal a map of Soho with all the main landmarks. One either side are panels depicting, from top left to bottom right, a film animator (note the film cans making a Mickey Mouse hat); a variety show at the London Palladium; the fashion trade; Carnaby Street with a stilt walker; Soho's cosmopolitan restaurants and Ronnie Scott's, with famous jazzmen.
The crowd along the bottom is of Soho worthies - there is a list on the information plaque.
When the clock strikes the hour there is a little show, so subtle it is easy to miss.