Derry & Toms Building, London, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Derry & Toms Building is a 1930s Art Deco department store on Kensington High Street in London, famous for the Roof Gardens built on top of it. It was home to the Derry & Toms store until the early 1970s and then briefly to the fashion store Biba, and it remains one of the most recognisable buildings on this stretch of west London.

The story behind it

Derry & Toms grew from a draper's business founded in the 1860s by Joseph Derry and James Toms. The shop became one of Kensington's best known department stores, and the present building was put up in the early 1930s to a design by the architect Bernard George, in the streamlined Art Deco style of the time.

Its biggest surprise was on the roof. The Roof Gardens, laid out by Ralph Hancock and opened in 1938, created themed gardens high above the traffic, including a Spanish garden, a Tudor garden and a woodland garden. The store closed in 1971, and from 1973 to 1975 the building housed Biba, the fashion store that became a symbol of London in the 1970s. The gardens survive today and are known for their resident flamingos.

What to look for

• The long Art Deco frontage along Kensington High Street, with its clean vertical lines and carefully ordered rows of windows.
• The roofline, where you can remember that a full garden is growing above the shopfronts, far from the pavement.
• The way the building changes the scale of the street, a reminder of how grand department stores once were in Kensington.
• The mix of old and new shops at street level, which shows how the building has kept working through several eras of London retail.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 10 to 15 minutes to look at the building from the street, longer if you combine it with a stroll along Kensington High Street.
• The Roof Gardens are a private events space and public access varies, so check current opening hours and access arrangements before you plan to go up.
• Daylight shows the stonework and the roofline best, and the pavements are quieter on weekday mornings.
• High Street Kensington station is close, and Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace are within easy walking distance.

See it on a quest

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Kensington, London is a good way to take in this building as one stop on a longer walk through Kensington. You reach it on foot, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Kensington, London Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. also passes through the area. It suits anyone who likes a detective theme and would rather learn about the street by walking it than reading a plaque. Start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join. One ticket covers the whole group.