Barbican Living
Salvage store
Does anyone have one of those little folding metal latches which holds your mailbox door shut and? If so, please let me know. Not being able to shut the door is like having a hangnail -- a small thing but very irksome. The Barbican estate office just doesn't have any spares. You may have your own particular problem. Fortunately, help is at hand. Some conservation-minded residents have had the excellent idea of setting up the Barbican Salvage Group. The idea is to save original fixtures and fittings, so when residents want to restore or replace features in their flats, they will be able to do so. The problem for residents is that many of the features absolutely unique to the Barbican -- just like my latch -- aren't manufactured any longer, so the only way of getting one is if someone else does up their flat and chucks it out.
It's a shame no one had this idea a few years ago, when we were all gaily ripping out old Barbican kitchens and bathrooms, and simply throwing everything out as rubbish. That was before English Heritage told us that the rubbish was what we were now putting in, and what we were throwing out was pure gold. I love the Barbican and its architecture and design, as you can probably tell from this site, but I couldn't wait to see the back of those horrible white bathroom tiles, which made having a shower feel like sluicing down an abattoir, even if you could get that absurd shower cable to unravel. And as for the kitchen, the sliding glass doors seemed specifically designed for trapping large quantities of breadcrumbs, and no one will ever convince me that those nasty ill-fitting bits of melamine, with little white plastic sprockets, have any place outside some temporary housing project in a Third World disaster zone. Compare the appallingly low quality of material and workmanship of the kitchens, with the lovely wood and beautifully engineered quality of the sliding doors and windows.
Anyway, for those purists looking to restore flats to their original condition, or replace worn out fixtures and fittings, the Barbican Salvage Group is going to be an invaluable resource. I expect it is luck of the draw what is available at any time, but they plan to store anything from individual light switches and taps through to wardrobe doors and complete kitchen units.
Another thing the Barbican Salvage group is doing, and this is a really good idea, is to put together a list of items which people clearly need but which they can't find, and then if there is enough interest arrange to have them manufactured. This could be anything from the infamous bathroom tiles to door handles.
If you are thinking of renovating your flat, please get in touch with the group so they can collect the stuff you are going to be throwing out.
The group's contacts and phone numbers (last time I checked) were:
email barbicansalvage@yahoo.co.uk
or visit http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/barbicansalvage
You can always find them via the Barbican Estate Office, 3 Lauderdale Place, Barbican, London, EC2Y 8EN. Tel: 020 7029 3953.
