I couldn't decide which coffee shop to feature so here's the first, Store Street Espresso. It's right round the corner from work and a great place to chill out at lunch time and get that kick for the afternoon. Compared with the other independent coffee shops in the area (Wild & Wood/Lantana/Tapped & Packed) the interior's minimal and light which is great. Anyway coffee's really good and so is the food.

Eccentric and surprising house and museum of architect Sir John Soane. Mostly unchanged since his death over 180 years ago, it is full of atmosphere. Also have spotlit, late night openings.  

This is one of the only platforms on the London Underground that is not bombarded with billboard advertising. It's a reminder to myself of how an uncluttered environment can give you so much more room to think.

Kind of secret, dark, intimate cocktail bar in Soho. Really easy to cozy up on a couch and stay there all night.

I walk a lot; the best way to experience a city. So it's sometimes to do with the way places join up. This cast concrete letterform is a part of the Lycée's gateway. Each of the form's facets arrives at a different character, so six possible letters come from each cast object. I've never been inside the Lycée but always walked through this way up to the V&A, in order to examine again and again how each form works. The surfaces set the tone for the V&A and its incredible Ceramics floor, a perennial inspiration.