SAVE THE OLD FOYLES BUILDING FROM DEMOLITION

The former Foyles Bookshop at 111-119 Charing Cross Road dates from 1929 and is a classic example of inter-war British architecture. It was for many years the world's largest bookshop, and is an iconic building and part of Britain's cultural heritage.

The proposal by the building's current owners, Soho Estates, to demolish the former home of Foyles Bookshop is an attack on the cultural history of London and we call on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to use his power to block the demolition.

For almost a century, this branch of Foyles was more than just an idiosyncratic bookshop. It was the meeting place for some of the most important figures in world history and culture. Over the years there were readings from their books by thousands of authors, but there were also the famous literary luncheons which welcomed figures as diverse as TS Eliot, John Lennon and Charles de Gaulle. And then there were the countless unrecorded meetings of writers, artists and musicians, with lovers of writing, art and music in Foyle's wonderfully hippyish cafe.

Saving the building is a question of saving the diversity of buildings in a part of London that is threatened by a monoculture of steel and glass structures. But it is also a question of saving an important part of Britain's cultural heritage.