The Time Out London blog team

Some lucky office workers will be aware of ‘Summer Fridays’, where employees are allowed to shave off a few hours from the end of the working week and clock off early on Fridays during the summer months to take advantage of the longer days (or, just spend more time outside the pub with a pint in hand).  Well, London institution, the National Gallery, is doing its own version of a special summer timetable. But, instead of shortening its opening hours, it’s extending them, so there’s even more time to take in its oil paintings of stiff-backed royals, hilarious political caricatures, and portraits of musicians, scientists, artists, philanthropists and celebrities.  From Friday July 3 to Monday August 31, the free-to-visit gallery will launch National Gallery Summertime, staying open until 7pm daily, with late opening until 9pm on Fridays. Alongside the extended hours, there’ll also be evening creative workshops hosted in the Roden Centre for Creative Learning (RCCL), including life drawing and still life classes, and the gallery’s Take One Picture exhibition will also remain on view throughout the summer. Zurbarán exhibition © The National Gallery, LondonZurbarán exhibition at The National Gallery, London It’s not just the galleries that will be staying open later. The building’s shops, bars, restaurants and exhibitions will also adhere to the new seasonal hours, so visitors can really make an evening of it. Plus, it will mean an extra chance to check out the gallery’s...

Since 1994, the Eurostar has been letting Londoners swerve the faff of checked luggage, liquid limits and the extra hassle of transferring to and from the airport when travelling to top European cities. You can get from the Big Smoke to Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam in just a few hours – less than the time it takes to cross the border into Scotland. Now, Eurostar is adding another European hot spot to its line-up of direct international destinations from. Yep, the cross-Channel train line has announced plans to introduce direct journeys between London and Switzerland.  Currently, the easiest way to travel between the two countries by rail is by getting the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris and changing to a TGV Lyria train to Zurich. The trip takes over seven hours. The new direct route would whittle the journey time down to five hours if you’re heading to Basel, adding an extra half hour to get to Geneva. The trains will end up in Zurich six hours after leaving London. Photograph: ShutterstockGeneva, Switzerland, Europe If you’re thinking ‘sounds good, so when will we be able to book direct Eurostar trains to Switzerland?’, the short answer is: not quite yet. Eurostar has just signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ with the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) and French SNCF Voyageurs, meaning the three parties have agreed to try and establish a direct connection between London and the three Swiss cities.  Once the ink is dry, the next step will be to work through the...

It’s official – despite significant backlash from local residents, a new office block is being built by the Barbican Centre. Once built, the brand new One Silk Street will offer approximately 86,000 sqm of office space, alongside new cultural, retail and community spaces in the area.  Members of the City of London Corporation Planning Application Sub-Commitee voted to allow the proposal to go ahead on Thursday May 28. That’s despite more than 1,000 objections (out of 1,850 responses) to the plans during the consultation phase.  The current 1980s building on the site – once home to high-end law firm Linklaters – will be demolished to make way for the new development. Originally, the plan was to replace it with a building made up of two 20-storey towers, plus new public space and amenities. But after fierce criticism, the design was scaled back with one of the blocks reduced to 16 storeys plus ground. Image: City of London CorporationRender of plans for One Silk Street The newly green-lit plans also include a new public plaza opposite the Barbican Centre entrance with retail and community spaces, and improved pedestrian connections between Moorgate and Liverpool Street to the Barbican.  The proposals received so many objections from local residents because of concerns over the height of the new blocks and the impacts on the nearby Grade II-listed Barbican Estate. The planned size of the building was reduced due to backlash earlier this year, but there was still major...