Plans submitted to turn Walkers Court, Soho into offices

[danm]

Originally Posted by Rational Plan

Has Raymonds revue bar reopened? I walked past a month or so ago and I'm sure the Neon was on.

The place has turned into a nightclub called The Box: http://www.theboxsoho.com/

Very exclusive and meant to have some freaky stuff going on inside -

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment...-box-club-soho

Decadent, daring and debauched, Manhattan's nocturnal cathedral of carnal cool opened its doors to a select few in London's Soho this year. With an exclusive guest list made up of supermodels, rock stars and royalty (both Hollywood and the Windsor kind), the Box nightclub basks in tales of explicit excess - so GQ's Erotic Affairs Editor just had to join the in crowd...

Lying back in a blur of shimmering globe lanterns and reflected light; two fallen cherubs pouring liquor into my mouth, a muscular black dancer gyrating above me... the Box. A nightclub unlike any other. A portal to hedonism: an invitation down the rabbit hole and through the hell gates into a world of brilliant depravity.

The legend of the Box has swirled out from New York since the original club opened in 2007. Now a sister club has opened in London, down a side street in Soho, in a building that used to be Raymond's Revue Bar, founded in the Fifties by Soho's sex king, Paul Raymond, and the first place in England where naked girls performed.

The Box is the vision of Simon Hammerstein, grandson of lyricist and Broadway impresario Oscar. An ex-raver with a passion for cabaret, he held a taster Box night at Wilton's Music Hall during last year's Frieze Art Fair. Its reception persuaded him London was ready. "It was one of the best-received shows we'd done anywhere," Hammerstein told reporters. "I love the British humour, the tongue-in-cheek sarcasm and dryness," he says. "Our show has that transgressive humour that the English get."

Hammerstein has taken care to perpetuate the myth at Walkers Court. Press are barred, but rumours of celebrity wildness have leaked out - Kate Moss leading the charge, X-rated parties in the VIP room. Meanwhile grainy shots have been stolen of dwarf acrobats and dancers dressed as giant vaginas, and the inevitable Daily Mail exposé followed, raising its skirt in horror over the cost of the magnums and the immorality of the acts.

The point of the Box is to shock. To entertain, thrill, amuse and offend. Which is why on any night, from Wednesday to Saturday, a shivering queue of punters - models and non-civilians, those not used to waiting - line the edge of a side street in Soho hoping that they'll be found worthy, allowed to pay their money and partake of its counter reality.

Let us assume your stars are aligned. That the good-looking club Cerberus, Archie, points at you (or you know a man, and your £3,000 has been accepted for a table) and the wooden double doors open.

Three stunning women in striped basques and mini-veils remove your coat; you are beckoned into a deep, dark hall and up a winding staircase.

More double doors - theatre's the name of the game - are thrust apart by further Josephine Baker reinventions. It's tough not to be excited, especially if you're tired of London's current mix of self-consciously gangster, arriviste R&B, or yellowing Establishment boîtes. Inside is a mass of carved wood, flocked wallpaper and mirrors; there's a sense of chambers and secret spaces. The place juxtaposes boudoir with dowager cottage with brothel, and it works.

The obvious place to start, late one Thursday night, was the smoking area. Drew, a good-looking heavy, was guarding the far end, which opened out across the roof tops: a Moulin Rouge, cinematic affair, the tiles of Soho buzzing neon, a lavender sky. "You'd be amazed, people love to be out here," he commented. "They stay even when the shows are on."

This is doubtless testament to the universal power of the smoking corner, always the cool place to be - where the gossip happens. At the same time, the acts are not for the squeamish.

"I adore the Box," an event-organiser friend told me. " Grace Jones lookalikes grinding on the bar, naked women sexing each other up on stage; you never know what to expect: one time I came and there was a woman on stage pretending to sever her own limbs, another time there was a massive body builder who turned round to reveal girl bits. It's amazing."

By midnight, punters were filing in. Some straight from the office, and a decent sprinkling of beau monde. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch held court at the best table - on the barman's left as you leave the bar - enjoying his newly single status. The atmosphere at the bar was electric, seize the day.

As I ordered a glass of Moët (£15), a slick, black suit introduced himself as James from LA. And enquired if I knew about the sex games that went on upstairs. And if I wanted to join them.

With immaculate timing, two barmen rescued me on to the bar; one swinging from the ceiling, lifting me out of James' way, the other rocking me back to dose me with a shot. If only every club could do the same...

Drum roll. A single spotlight on the red velvet curtains. Enter our compere, drenched in chains and Gothic tattoos; "All American" snarled in black ink across his chest; his peroxide hair gelled into stubby horns, singing a paean to the beautiful people ("We want it beautiful, we want it free...").

He introduced himself as Raven O, his diamanté knuckle-dusters flashing around the mike, and summoned on the acts. A Japanese Michael Jackson who died, and popped back as a zombie in a "Thriller" pastiche. Twin girl contortionists: legs whirling slow-mo into the splits, twisting around each other's bodies, a sinuous, suggestive mingling of limbs. The music was slow, raunchy. A pleasing diversion from the usual house BPM. An ingénue Alice, wandering in a forest where a topless girl stuck a syringe in her heart, now spinning in a daze through a kinky Wonderland, with fire-eating rabbits and a BDSM feline proffering her cocaine; the red queen arriving to lead an energetic universal striptease, climaxing with her on her throne, eating Alice's pussy, as Alice in turn truffled the cat.

The first show - of three - wound up with Rose, a caveman tranny revealing bazooka breasts, then a waxed cock and balls, jiggling and dangling in their hairless form. She lifted a whisky bottle from the floor with her sphincter, before spitting its contents over the audience in farewell.

Upstairs, the night unfurled. The VIP room grew more crowded. No sex games, either on stage or around the tables (it turns out VIP performances are more frequent at the weekend). But everywhere a gleeful hubbub of people increasingly animated and wasted.

The only "stars" were Queen drummer Roger Taylor and Rubber Ron, the DJ who set up fetish club Submission 20-odd years ago. "There are some pretty girls here," Ron smiled. "I rate it."

"I arrived when the transvestite was pulling plugs out of his arse and licking them," beamed Cuckoo Club co-owner Nick Valentine. "I'm quite freaked out..."

The Box is a place where anything can happen. It has a glorious element of randomness. You may chance on Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in rubber, then again you may find Prince Harry in a fleece. So go equipped. Turn up ready for anything: that rabbit hole is waiting...

11-12 Walkers Court, London W1. theboxsoho.com

[rst22]

Did the Box preserve any of the orginal signage or add new signage?

[cosmictanya]

Originally Posted by rst22

Did the Box preserve any of the orginal signage or add new signage?

well those doors are different for a start, used to be quite tacky etched glass but inside was very 70s, red velvet seats and tables, its still tables, its not a nightclub nightclub with everyone standing. i honestly can't place it all as i wasnt particularly sober at the box, or any of its previous incarnations, it was too2much, then something else presided over by drag queens. you should go along.

the raymonds revue sign has shamefully not been lit for years to my knowledge and hazed 3am memories. its a very bright corner anyway with the pink neon of snog right opposite so you wouldnt necessarily notice it was there/not there unless it was on, so i assume its not or id have thought, brilliant, theyve switched that back on.

and before you assume i have 3 grand for table spend, i was with a man who didnt expect me to half in, i didnt even realise it cost that until i read it above. it certainly didnt used to be 3k minimum cover, tuesdays were cheap nights - like really cheap, a fiver a cocktail. so yeah its all changed and the beautiful sign is still wasted.

[rst22]

I still can't find any info on the planed destruction of walkers court besides that pdf file from last year.

[london lad]

Originally Posted by rst22

I still can't find any info on the planed destruction of walkers court besides that pdf file from last year.

Because there isn’t any. All this speculation stems from a small article in the Evening Standard. No one knows what is going to happen yet as plans are being worked up.

Paul Raymond not only ran a whole host of clubs in Soho but bought up vast amounts of the place. The company is now run by his granddaughter with help from other property people so in turn a lot of Soho will be over the coming years be done up ( more than likely most of it will be refurbished buildings rather than new build).

[DarJoLe]

In fact the block on the corner just outside of Walkers Court opposite the Somerfield was redeveloped last year, and is all the better for it.

[rst22]

Here are some cool videos of Soho from the 1960's.

http://www.criticalpast.com/products...land/1960/1968

[rst22]

Recent video of Walkers Court.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyrAzAuZQmA

[rst22]

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lomod/392009402/

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/vswherever/10303171/

[rst22]

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/omcoc/4393318072/

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_pearson/4230295593/

[rst22]

How much adult entertainment venues are left in Soho outside of Walkers Court?

[rst22]

Originally Posted by cosmictanya

well those doors are different for a start, used to be quite tacky etched glass but inside was very 70s, red velvet seats and tables, its still tables, its not a nightclub nightclub with everyone standing. i honestly can't place it all as i wasnt particularly sober at the box, or any of its previous incarnations, it was too2much, then something else presided over by drag queens. you should go along.

the raymonds revue sign has shamefully not been lit for years to my knowledge and hazed 3am memories. its a very bright corner anyway with the pink neon of snog right opposite so you wouldnt necessarily notice it was there/not there unless it was on, so i assume its not or id have thought, brilliant, theyve switched that back on.

and before you assume i have 3 grand for table spend, i was with a man who didnt expect me to half in, i didnt even realise it cost that until i read it above. it certainly didnt used to be 3k minimum cover, tuesdays were cheap nights - like really cheap, a fiver a cocktail. so yeah its all changed and the beautiful sign is still wasted.

Its still hard to tell what it looks like now from those pics. Someone else said the sign was still there recently. Anyone been by there lately?

[Bowater]

Originally Posted by cosmictanya

a lovely prostitute called martha used to do my maths homework while we sat in a nearby cafe and talked about men

How did that come about?

[rst22]

I checked out the sight of the Raymond Revuebar on goolgle maps street views and looks bassically the same except it says Soho Revuebar not the Box.

[rst22]

Raymond Revuebar became the Soho Revuebar in 2004 but kept the orginal signage. That google maps street view is from several years ago. It beecame the Box about a year ago. Still can't find an image of the Box.

[rst22]

These are recent photos of The Box but they do not show much from the front.

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/normko/...n/photostream/

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/normko/...n/photostream/

[cnapan]

I love this seedly little pocket. I like the idea that a city is big enough to have such areas. It would be a shame to see it erased in the name of improvement. It does provide a service after all. I enjoyed visiting the boxlondon website. I'll have to visit sometime!

[rst22]

London to clean up the red light district before the Olympics

London's Westminster Council has announced plans to clean up Soho before the 2012 Olympic Games by cracking down on illegal sex establishments.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzSzv-6s52o

[rst22]

This picture which is the most recent was taken August, 2011.

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/tommyaj...on/6077973642/

The box opened February, 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Box_Soho

[rst22]

image hosted on flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/40604141@N02/4976510682/