Unique Nails

Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum

Kensington Gore · 0.6 miles

A specialist museum and archive devoted to Poland’s experience during the Second World War occupies the Grade II-listed terrace at 20 Prince’s Gate, West London. The building fronts Kensington Road opposite Hyde Park and lies just inside the City of Westminster, close to the commercial heart of Kensington. Established on 2 May 1945, the institute was founded to safeguard the memory of the Polish Underground State, the government-in-exile and the Polish armed forces that fought alongside the Allies. It operates as a non-governmental organisation run by scholars from the Polish community and forms part of the same Victorian development by Charles James Freake that includes the nearby Polish Hearth Club. The collection comprises witness testimonies from the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, official documents, regimental colours, military medals, uniforms, insignia, artworks and a library of personal effects belonging to Polish statesmen, diplomats and ordinary citizens. A substantial film and photographic archive, digitised in 2005–06, holds more than 5 000 images and is accessible for exhibitions and educational projects. In 2006, a cache of 2 000 photographs taken by Jan Markiewicz of the 1950s Polish community in South London was added to the holdings. The institute merged in 1988 with the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust, which retains internal autonomy for research and publishing. Governance is provided by a council and executive committee, overseeing departments such as Archives, Museum, Reference Library, Publications and the Regimental Colours Fund. Membership categories include honorary, full, life and annual members.

Queen's Tower

Queen's Gate · 0.6 miles

Remnant of Imperial Institute buildings, demolished in 1957

Royal Albert Hall

Kensington Gore · 0.6 miles

Situated on the northern fringe of South Kensington, the Royal Albert Hall dominates the streetscape opposite Kensington Gore. Designed by civil engineers Francis Fowke and Henry Young Darracott Scott, the building is listed by Historic England and provides step-free access throughout. The auditorium accommodates 5,272 seats, making it one of the larger concert venues in the capital. Since its inauguration by Queen Victoria in 1871, the hall has presented a continuous programme of performances. More than 390 events are staged each year in the main auditorium, ranging from classical concerts and operas to rock, pop, ballet, film screenings accompanied by live orchestras, sporting contests and award ceremonies. The BBC Proms have been held there each summer since 1941, and an additional thousand activities take place in the surrounding spaces, including community gatherings and charitable banquets. Over its history the venue has hosted suffragette meetings, speeches by Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and Albert Einstein, boxing bouts featuring Lennox Lewis and exhibition fights with Muhammad Ali, as well as concerts by regular artists such as Eric Clapton and Shirley Bassey. The hall forms the functional component of the Prince Albert memorial, the ornamental counterpart being the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, separated only by Kensington Gore. Its location within a historic precinct and the provision of wheelchair-friendly facilities make it accessible for a wide audience seeking cultural events in central London.

The Albert Memorial

Kensington Gore · 0.6 miles

A striking Gothic Revival ciborium dominates the north side of Kensington Gardens, directly opposite the Royal Albert Hall. The structure, conceived by Sir George Gilbert Scott, rises to a height of 176 feet and shelters a bronze statue of Prince Albert that faces south across the gardens. Its elaborate canopy, modelled on imagined medieval shrines, forms a pavilion-like space that marks the site where the Prince Consort is commemorated. The memorial’s central figure was ultimately modelled by John Henry Foley after an earlier version by Carlo Marochetti was rejected; the bronze statue was placed on the monument in 1870 and ceremonially seated in 1875. Surrounding the canopy is the Frieze of Parnassus, a sculptural band that records 169 artists, architects, poets, musicians and sculptors, arranged by discipline on each side of the structure. Commissioned by Queen Victoria following Prince Albert’s death in 1861, the project progressed from an initial committee formed by the Lord Mayor of London in early 1862 to the final approval of Scott’s design in April 1863. The monument was opened to the public in 1872 and has been protected as a Grade I listed building since 1970. Access to the Albert Memorial is step-free, making it suitable for wheelchair users. It is situated within the public realm of Kensington Gardens, and visitors can view the monument from the surrounding parkland without any admission charge. The site is marked on local maps as a landmark in the Kensington Gore area.

Baden-Powell House

Queen's Gate · 0.6 miles

A notable conference and event venue occupies the former Baden-Powell House on the corner of Cromwell Road and Queen’s Gate in South Kensington, London. Built as a tribute to Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Scouting, the building originally combined a modern hostel with headquarters for The Scout Association, offering affordable accommodation for Scouts, Guides, their families and other visitors to the capital. Construction began after the site, a bomb-damaged property purchased in 1956, was assigned to architect Ralph Tubbs. The foundation stone was laid in 1959 by World Chief Guide Olave Baden-Powell, and Queen Elizabeth II opened the house in 1961. Over the following decades the premises served as the Scout Association’s headquarters, a hostel, and from the late 1980s an increasingly important conference centre. A substantial refurbishment in the mid-1990s upgraded rooms with private facilities, double glazing and air-conditioning, and expanded the event spaces. After the headquarters moved to Gilwell Park in 2001, the building continued to operate primarily as a hostel, at one point hosting around 30 000 overnight guests and serving 100 000 meals. In 2021 the property was sold to the independent school Mander Portman Woodward, which now runs it as a student boarding and conference facility. Access is via Queen’s Gate; wheelchair access is limited. The location benefits from its central London setting and proximity to public transport and local amenities.

Wellington Monument

City of Westminster · 0.6 miles

The Wellington Monument is a statue representing Achilles erected as a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, and his victories in the Peninsular War and the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars. It is sited at the south-western end of Park Lane in London, and was inaugurated on 18 June 1822. Its total height, including the sculpture, base and the mound on which it stands, is 36 feet (11 m).