A Former Public Toilet Beneath City Streets, Turned Into a Stylish Apartment

An underground Victorian-Edwardian public toilet on Crystal Palace Parade in London was built in 1929 and fell out of use in the 1980s. Young architect Laura Jane Clark stumbled upon the abandoned facility in 2005, shortly after graduating from the Glasgow School of Art, and decided to turn it into her first home. Because the toilet sat exactly at the meeting point of three different boroughs, working out who actually controlled the land took years of direct conversations with officials — with no real estate agency involved at any point. It wasn't until 2011 that Clark bought the underground unit, just 56 square meters, for £20,000, then spent a further £65,000 converting the dark, dungeon-like interior into a light-filled, modern studio flat complete with a gilded bathroom. Some of the original tiles and a mirror were incorporated into the new design as a nod to the building's former function. The project gained wide attention in 2012 after appearing on the television show 'Amazing Spaces'. Clark's story shows that the most unusual housing opportunities await those willing to patiently and directly negotiate access to a city's forgotten corners.