Hay's Galleria

1982-86

London

This late twentieth-century covered shopping arcade, whose name recalls the famous Galleria in Milan, continues the Victorian and earlier tradition of English upscale shopping areas, such as the Burlington and Royal Arcades [GPL].

Hay's Galleria is part of the conversion of the old Hay's Wharf and Dock area on the Thames waterfront, on the south bank of the Pool of London. The original dock and warehouses here were designed by Sir William Cubitt in 1856. The warehouses were rebuilt after the war and again subsequently; and the dock was filled in and sealed, and this "vast steel and glass roof" installed, as part of the Hay's Galleria development in 1982-86 — thus "providing shops, offices and apartments" ( 218). Note: the eminent engineer William Cubitt, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers from 1850-51, was not thought to be related to the famous building contractors also called Cubitt. [Jacqueline Banerjee]

Source: London Photos, a commercial photo library, has generously shared this photograph with the Victorian Web; copyright remains, of course, with them. Readers may wish to visit their site for many beautiful images of modern London.