THE CLOSING OF OLD HORTENSIA

The empty halls and corridors of a building seen for the last time.
Kensington and Chelsea College’s ‘Southern’ campus was housed, up until this Summer, in a red-brick Victorian school originally called ‘Sloane School for Boys’ on Hortensia Road, Chelsea, London. The building has been sold off and a new College building erected next door. The classrooms and corridors are abandoned and await demolition, remodelling and refurbishing into flats and apartments. I decided to photograph the building in its period of transition and found it quite a moving experience. I had been a member of staff of the college for quite a few years and it was very strange walking the empty corridors and standing in now unfamiliar classrooms. These are the results of a morning revisiting, and ultimately – saying goodbye. Steve Mepsted 2011