Feline Groovy!

Such an obvious title it must have been used before. Maybe by me!

The old Carreras cigarette factory in Camden, built in 1926-28, & designed four years after Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which ignited a craze for Egyptian themes among Art Deco architects.
The building's opening ceremony involved covering the pavements in sand, a procession of the cast of the then current production Verdi's Aida & even a chariot race on Hampstead Road!
The 8.5 ft pair of bronze cats, representing the Egyptian god Baset, echoed the logo used on the "Craven A" brand of ciggies, & guarded the main entrance until 1959, when Carreras merged with Rothmans & production moved to Essex. One cat moved to the new factory, the other went to Jamaica & was set outside the Carreras factory in Spanish Town.

In 1962 the building was converted to offices & lost its, by then, unfashionable Egyptian decoration. But in 1996 new owners Resolution GLH commissioned the restoration of its Art Deco glory, including new replicas of the giant cats.

Today, I gather the building houses the offices of the British Heart Foundation. A nice twist in the tail after its smokin' history!