Originally published on Wednesday, 20th May 2009

Two Faced

The days of Butlins (the old rotating restaurant way up on the Post Office Tower) may well be long past, effectively replaced by private office conversions á la Paramount and Vertigo 42. But we just can't shake our love for public spaces having a darker side.

The ICA loves reveling in a little extracurricular mischief, hosting more mad-cap parties than even we know what to do with sometimes. The Friday Lates and Late at Tates have provided a second, far more sociable face to our favourite old-school galleries. The Royal Academy has finally started making the most of itsincredible courtyard. And we got more than a little excited when we heard about those old BT tunnels that were up for grabs last year.

But now it's Somerset House's turn to tempt our trend-hungry taste-buds with tomorrow's launch of the Bombay Sapphire Dusk Bar. Created by Tom Dixon and overlooking the river, it looks to be the place this summer to celebrate that ultimate post-work moment – when the sun is just setting, and the city goes all quiet, and a martini has never tasted so good.

Bombay Sapphire Dusk Bar: 10am-12am
Somerset House, Strand, WC2R 1LA

by AC