The oldest, most elegant and distinctive shopping centre in the city, Stamford House was built in 1904 and mercifully conserved (a similar old building across the road was destroyed to make way for Stamford Court). Its wooden floors, ornate ironwork and plasterwork and aura of hushed refinement remain, and the tenants – art galleries, hair and beauty salons, local designer boutiques and spas – generally treat the place with the respect it deserves.