When it came to the history of the area, we were already pretty well versed. As part of the official retail launch, we had designed a book for Argent called ‘Coal Drops Yard in Six Stories’ – a detailed account of the Yard compiled by historian and author Dr Jacqueline Riding.

It was pretty fascinating; the buildings of Coal Drops Yard had quite literally stood the test of time in one of the city’s most central districts. Starting out at the coalface (pun entirely intended) of Victorian London’s industrial trade route, it went through a number of rebirths over the years, culminating most famously perhaps as a 90s clubbing mecca. And long, long before that, it had been the site of some major mythological events, such as a famous battle between Queen Boudicca and the Romans.

With all this information at our fingertips, we decided to create an installation based around the idea of history being built up in layers – because although the site might not look the same as it did in the beginning, the stories will always be there.

We chose the palimpsest as a medium for telling this story, as it’s a form of artwork that physically layers different visuals on top of one another, to complete a fuller picture.

In total, we created 44 palimpsests for the installation. Each one told its own unique story, but when viewed together it created a historical narrative, that invited visitors to journey from the days of Boudicca, through the industrial revolution, to mud-wrestling at notorious nightclubs in the decade before the millennium.