Kathryn Vann

A 700-year-old building suspended on stilts is not your typical City of London sight. However, that’s what is currently on show in the Square Mile this week, as a very, very old church near Fenchurch Street station sits suspended 45 feet (14 metres) above the ground.  The building in question is the tower of All Hallows Staining Church, and it’s in its current predicament thanks to a massive development at 50 Fenchurch Street. The project has just ‘bottomed out’, meaning a milestone has been reached in excavating the site and undertaking foundation works. A whopping 125,000 tonnes of earth and ground material was removed from the site.  50 Fenchurch Street’s bottoming-out ceremony was on Tuesday (September 23), and it’s left the 14th-century tower standing starkly solitary. While visitors may not be able to get up close and personal with the curious sight, the tower’s tubular steel stilts are visible to passersby. Photograph: Owen Billcliffe So, why exactly has all this happened? Well, the stone tower is being preserved within the 50 Fenchurch Street development, which is designed by Eric Parry Architects and will be a 36-storey, 650,000-square foot office tower. The church will eventually be central to a new public green space, with its crypt reassembled.  Image: Binyan In the meantime, construction is set to begin on the building’s basement. The project is set for completion in 2028.  Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and

London certainly isn’t short on world-beating bars (three of them were just named in the 100 best on the planet), but soon the capital’s drinking scene will be hosting yet another prestigious name. A world-renowned Barcelona bar is coming to the capital for a limited-edition pop-up. The drinkery in question is Bar Brutal, which will be landing at Seabird (the rooftop bar of The Hoxton in Southwark) next week.  Brutal is a Catalonian cult classic. Since 2013 the owners of Brutal have transformed the original bodega and wine cellar into a bar and restaurant, all while pioneering Spain’s natural wine movement and curating a collection of over 300 wines.   Seabird, meanwhile, is one of Time Out’s best rooftop restaurants in London. The residency will see Seabird feature a select list of natural wines direct from Bar Brutal’s own bodega-turned-wine-bar to pair alongside seasonal Spanish plates. Inspired by Brutal’s origins, the seasonal menu will feature The Cellar Pardas – Rupestris 2023 (white), Terroir al Límit – Historic 2022 (red) and an Escoda Sanuhuja – Bassotets 2022 (orange) from their five-starred Can Cisa cellar in Barcelona’s El Born.  On the food side of things, punters will get to choose from a menu that includes smoky fish, buttery jamón ibérico, seasonal vegetables and specialty desserts.  Photograph: Eugènia Sanllehí If wine doesn’t strike your fancy, however, three whiskey cocktails named the ‘Stout Old Fashioned’, ‘Smokey Rob Roy’ and ‘Not a Hot Toddy’ will

Americanophiles, here’s some very exciting news. Beloved homeware store chain Pottery Barn, until now only heard of here in the UK via faint whispers from across the pond, has opened an outpost in London.  Since opening in 1946, Pottery Barn has developed near-mythic status as a place to furnish homes. The bougie chain is renowned for combining antique aesthetics with boho styles, from collections of plaid plating and comfy country style sofas to wicker baskets to store various trinkets. Pottery Barn has remained one of the most popular furnishing brands in the US. Most Americans will recognise Pottery Barn from a parent’s magazine collections or shopping malls. Here in the UK, however, you’re more likely to have come across the brand on the telly. An entire Friends episode revolved around the chain. In season six (episode 11) ‘The One With the Apothecary Table’ saw Phoebe – who is averse to chain-store furniture – easily convinced by Pottery Barn’s alluring apothecary table.  Despite its popularity, however, the furniture shop has never made its way across the pond – until now. Pottery Barn has launched a website for the UK, and it will open its first ever British physical outlet here in London. The brand is hosting a pop-up in West Elm’s store on Tottenham Court Road, which will be open to shoppers throughout October.  Significantly, the pop-up will feature Pottery Barn’s autumn collection, which the brand described as ‘whimsical woodland prints, grounded in autumnal greens