In 1771, the British East India Company built their first warehouse on the Thames, stuffing it brim-full with the eclectic spoils of their trade – spices, wines, silks and cigars. The Poet Laureate John Masefield opined that it held “the wealth of the world and London’s power”. That building – the Grade II-listed Old Bengal Warehouse – still stands, a reminder that London’s thriving cosmopolitanism is nothing new.The Old Bengal Warehouse was plucked from history’s scrapheap by D&D London, who enlisted the help of Conran and Partners in bringing it back to glory. We created four separate venues – two restaurants, a wine shop, and a bar – that reflect the buildings exotic, mercantile past.