Photo: Hanging Gardens of North London

What I love about assisting with shoots: it's an opportunity to end up in a neighbourhood way off the beaten track.
(Your own beaten track, it needs to be emphasised: what is a backdrop for one, is a life for another).

This morning I spent in what I can describe as the concrete Hanging Gardens of Semiramis.
(Okay, they say that in English, more conventionally, it is "of Babylon", but I'd love to keep the ancient queen).
Chilly air, robins on the ivy, locals and local cats walking by, and two independent shooting crews at a minimum.
We saluted each other with C-stands and grins.

Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate is located in North West London, not far from Abbey Road (yes, that one). In some parameters, a Londoner's mind files it in the same folder as the more central Barbican: textured concrete, unconventional spatial organisation with labyrinth-like walkways above and below ground level, and an overall flair of vintage architectural novelty of the second half of the 20th century.

Apparently, it's also “Eggsy’s neighbourhood” from Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), my favourite absurdist spy action film. There, it was used several times, including a parkour scene.

(I wonder whether local resindents have seen this (or any other) rendition of their own home on screen? "Darling, I told you that day: put away your socks from the balcony!" Ahem, sorry.)