Farmiloe Building, 28-36 St John Street, EC1

As you approach Smithfield along St John Street, you’ll notice the words ‘George Farmiloe & Sons’ picked out on the Italianate Victorian frontage on your left.

The Farmiloe Building, 28-36 St John Street, was used as the ‘Trans Siberian’ restaurant of ruthless patriarch Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises. No borscht here, though. The bustling restaurant itself was an extremely convincing set, built in the Three Mills Studios in Bow.

The first floor offices of the Farmiloe building were transformed into ‘Gotham City Police Station’, where Sergeant Gordon (Gary Oldman) works in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. With an eye to economy, the film’s ‘Shanghai’ warehouse was filmed in the same building, and sequel The Dark Knight returns to the location.

Batman Begins (2005, dir: Christopher Nolan)
Eastern Promises (2007, dir: David Cronenberg)
The Dark Knight (2008, dir: Christopher Nolan)