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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Robbie Griffiths

National Portrait Gallery flushes £3m down the loo, buying a former WC

National Portrait Gallery Clive Myrie Sadiq Khan John Humphrys Liz Truss Len Blavatnik

The former public toilet on Charing Cross Road

(Picture: Google )

£3 million for a toilet may seem steep but that’s what the National Portrait Gallery has spent buying a neighbouring former Victorian WC.

The lavatory on Charing Cross Road, right, closed in the Seventies and later became a West End ticket kiosk before falling into disuse. There may be 1,500 square feet of exhibition space in the cubicles underground. The gallery is closed for renovation and plans to reopen this summer. Work on the ex-lavatory will happen more slowly.

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