The building

The concept of The Writers' Hotel is very clear in my mind, but what about an actual physical location? I mentioned the idea to a friend and she made a throwaway joke about buying a historic building in the city. I didn't take much notice, but a couple of days later I found myself parked just down the road. "That's interesting" I thought.

The building is empty and has been mildly vandalised. Still I left it in the back of my mind until a couple of days later again I found myself driving past it. It's not a route I take very often, so the coincidence attracted my attention. I stopped outside and got out of the car.

There is a cobbled courtyard facing the street and steps up to the front door. Weeds grow through the cobbles. The facade is beautiful, verandas on both floors with antique cast iron balustrades - just what you want for a traditional Writers' Hotel.

The site is near the corner of a green square so that the diagonal view is pleasant. It's not the best street, not the worst. I found myself thinking it wouldn't be ideal sitting out in the courtyard at night - there are lots of bars and nightclubs just a block away.

3D vision

Then I had a strange experience, like the space around me had shifted. Instead of standing in an open courtyard on the street, I felt myself inside a glass atrium rising the full two storeys from the street front and completely enclosing the courtyard and facade. I could hear echoes of a busy cafe to my left, and saw a writing space with sofas, chairs and desks to my right. Inside the atrium, the life of the street became something to watch, benign. I imagined standing on the verandas looking out into the atrium, an intriguing ambiguous space, outside and inside at the same time.

The feeling of this imagined space stayed with me. Perhaps it's time to find out who owns this building and have a talk.