Wine bar to open in Clapham toilet

A wine bar is to open in London’s Clapham Common next week on the site of a 100-year-old former public toilet.

The bar at WC made from the former attendance office

Housed below Clapham Common tube station, WC Wine & Charcuterie is a 40-seater bar with a trio of booths and seating for 40 in an outdoor courtyard.

The bar is the brainchild of local residents Andy Bell and Jayke Mangion, who have worked for over two years converting the toilet, which served as a squat for a number of years, into a drinking den.

A number of the original features such as the mosaic floor and tube tiling have been kept with the old attendance office forming the framework of the bar.

Love letters found behind the partition walls during the restoration are on display in the bar’s own toilets, which include two original Royal Doulton urinals.

The 12 red and 12 white wines on pour at the bar will be available by the glass and half bottle via a small and regularly updated list of predominantly small producers, with rosé and sparkling wine also included in the line up.

A selection of cocktails will also be available by the glass and carafe.

Beer meanwhile comes by way of Brixton Brewery, with cut to order charcuterie, seven cheeses and a terrine of the day all on sale.

Due to open next week, WC will be open from 6pm until late on Monday to Friday and from midday until late on Saturdays and Sundays.

This is not the first time a public convenience has been turned into a bar. The Attendant in Soho opened last January in a former Victorian gentleman’s loo.

Built in 1890, the loo has been lovingly transformed into a coffee bar with the original porcelain urinals lining the table tops to create mini booths.