For many of us, memories of our school holidays are of time spent kicking our siblings in the back of a hot, suitcase- laden car or the smell of suncream on an unremarkable stretch of British coastline. Sim Takhar’s were spent in a warehouse in Hackney. The co-founder of The Old Bank Vault, a contemporary art gallery event space and concept store on Hackney Road, was frequenting the area long before it
was inhabited by chic cafés and creative spaces.
Sim has long-established family connections with this pocket of London. Years ago, her grandfather had a factory in Hackney, then her parents invested in property in the area. Back in 1999, looking for a space to run their fashion footwear business, her parents bought the warehouse on Hackney Road that would one day become The Old Bank Vault