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Victorian toilets to be used as National Portrait Gallery space

LDRS Ticket kiosk on Irving StreetLDRS
The Victorian underground toilet block was more recently used as a theatre ticket kiosk

A Victorian underground toilet block in central London is to be transformed into an exhibition space for the National Portrait Gallery.

The 160s sq m (1,700 sq ft) structure was closed in the 1970s.

The above-ground entrance booth, on a traffic island near Leicester Square, was more recently used as a theatre ticket kiosk but shut in 2021.

The gallery bought the complex for £3m as part of a £10m expansion programme it is currently undergoing.

The redevelopment in Irving Street has been made possible by grants from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Ross Foundation.

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