Kensington Market

Kensington Market stood three storeys high on Kensington High Street in west London. Built in 1967, it filled a narrow gap between older shops and offices. The building’s concrete frame housed dozens of small stalls on each floor. Its staircases and landings were narrow and steep, forcing shoppers to move slowly. The top floor opened to a flat roof where vendors sometimes sold clothes and records. From the street the market looked like a giant market box dropped into the row of shops. It became famous for giving London’s counter-cultures a place to trade and gather. In the 1960s and 1970s it drew hippies and bohemians with hand-made jewellery, vintage clothes and folk records. By the 1980s and 1990s punks, goths, ravers and metal fans filled the floors. Roger Taylor once ran a stall before Queen formed, and Freddie Mercury helped him. Lemmy of Motörhead said he sold items there in the 1960s. Designers like Pam Hogg and Leigh Bowery began on the market’s stalls before moving across the road. Inside, each floor had its own colour scheme and crowd. The ground floor sold leather jackets and band T-shirts. The first floor specialised in records and posters. The top floor carried hand-made crafts and accessories. The narrow staircases forced visitors to pass one another slowly, creating chance meetings. After it closed in 2000 the building stood empty for a year before being demolished in 2001.