In a city with as a rich a culture and history as London, it can be difficult to look down at our feet. Yet below us there exists a subterranean realm, seldom explored and rarely noticed. Warner Street forms a unique scar in the city’s fabric–a sunken passage between Mount Pleasant and Farringdon. This valley is formed by the River Fleet, now entombed within a tunnel of Victorian brick.

Further downstream, a curious tradition of clandestine marriages lasted for more than a century. ‘Fleet Marriages’ were popular for their ease and efficiency, hosted by convicted clergymen in the Fleet Prison. They could be seen as 18th century England’s equivalent of the modern Vegas wedding.

The Clerkenwell Chapel seeks to restore the Fleet Marriage, as well as access to the river itself. Initially divided, the couple are brought closer to one another as they ascend around a watch repair shop, dressmaking atelier and artificial flower-making workshop. The open chapel space at the top symbolises the end of the journey to marriage; synonymous with renewal and new beginnings, the building’s programme is wedded with the subterranean themes that permeate from the Fleet and rise up from this hidden history.