The Time Out London blog team

One of London’s most iconic but off-limits buildings is one step closer to opening up to the public, as Shoreditch-based architecture firm Orms has been appointed to transform the BT Tower into a boutique hotel. As we told you at the time (way back in February 2024), American hotel chain MCR bought the spindly Fitzrovia superstar from BT Group for a cool £275 million. This was incredibly exciting news, as the former centre of the ‘white heat of technology’ (as then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson dubbed the communications centre upon its opening in 1964) had reduced public access after anarchist collective the Angry Brigade set off a bomb there in 1971.  When MCR’s acquisition of the Grade II-listed building was first announced, Camden’s Heatherwick Studio was in the hot seat to oversee the redevelopment. Founder Thomas Heatherwick, whose company designed Coal Drops Yard and the seriously swanky Google Offices, described the venue as ‘extraordinary’ and expressed excitement about the ‘amazing opportunity to bring it back to life’. Photograph: Nigel J. Harris / Shutterstock.com It’s not clear why Heatherwick has stepped back from the project; a spokesperson simply told Architect’s Journal: ‘Heatherwick Studio and MCR had been working together on the development of the BT Tower. We are no longer involved and wish MCR every success for the future of the project.’ All eyes will be on Orms when the firm reveals its initial ideas for the renovation during the first public...

It’s so long to a titan of the London sandwich scene. Dom’s Subs is officially shutting down its City of London outpost. Don’t panic, Dom’s Subs as a business is sticking around. But it’ll be moving out of its shop on Cullum Street after being issued a notice of forfeiture by its landlords.  The cult sandwich shop, which over the years has collabed with the likes of Carhartt, Dishoom, Yard Sale and Time Out cover star Big Zuu, has been serving its mighty rolls to the City of London since 2021. Yesterday (March 9) in an Instagram post, it announced that it has been ‘struggling to keep up with rising rent and bills’ and ultimately has been unable to continue making it work.  It added: ‘We didn’t want things to end up this way, but ultimately it’s no one’s fault but our own. We hold our hands up and we’re very grateful to our landlords for their patience with us over the past months.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by DOM’S SUBS (@impeccablesandwiches) The original Dom’s Subs on Hackney Road is also no longer operating as a Dom’s Subs. But the business says that the site is ‘well underway to becoming something new’ and that it’s ‘genuinely excited about what’s coming next’. Fans of the impeccable sarnies can still pick up their favourites – including That Spicy D, L’Italiano and Il Roast Beef – from Dom’s Subs kiosk in Ludgate Circus. You can also still go on down to Rasputin’s and Jupiter Burger, which don’t offer the same sandwiches, but are run...

London already has a formidable roster of live music venues – but here’s something that is a little different, even for the capital. Broadwick Live, the team behind Printworks and Drumsheds, has announced today (March 10) what sounds like a wildly ambitious series of summer shows at a space called Open-Air, a new outdoor location at Greenwich venue Magazine. According to a press release, Open-Air has been conceived as ‘a roofless dancefloor shaped by bold structural interventions and open sky’. Broadwick promises top-flight sound and production ‘to establish a new benchmark for outdoor music in the capital’. Set in a previously untapped part of the Greenwich Peninsula, against the awesome London skyline and looking onto the Thames, the new venue will offer a bespoke open-air stage and ‘never-before-seen production [that] pushes creative and technical boundaries, designed to work with the surrounding architecture’. It’ll open in August.   Photograph credit: Henry WoideThe stunning site of Open-Air Magazine Open-Air lineup So, who’s performing? The six-date series kicks off on August 14 with Our House, a collaboration between Italian house trio Meduza (the most globally streamed Italian act of all time, no less) and acclaimed produced James Hype. On August 15, tech house DJs Josh Baker and Max Dean will appear back-to-back for the first time in London, while R&B, hip-hop and electronic collective Soulection will celebrate a decade-and-a-half of good times with 15 Years:...