London

Welcome to London! We’re glad to have you here! This page is meant to help visitors find their way to our London space and around London. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask in #london on irc.mozilla.org, or if you happen to be around the space come talk to us. If there is anything missing that you think might help future visitors, please add it or let us know :-)

About the Space

• We’re on the forth floor of the building; walk into the building, buzz 441 on the intercom and we will be able to let you up (the main gate is open Mon-Fri from 08:00- 18:00)
• The space is open between 09:00 - 17:30 for those who are registered Mozillians ([1])
• Free WiFi (login to Mozilla Guest - password is on wall in Community Space)
• Conference rooms available for uses related to Open Source and Mozilla
• Signing in is required when you enter our space on the 4th floor
• There are a few guidelines to follow so keep a look out for them
• A full list of our internally bookable conference rooms is available here
• Employees: The doors leading up to our suite and lifts work on a different security system to the Mozilla badges, We have some temporary access fobs available for the building, ask Mandy Chan for one

Wi-fi

The internet is a good that is meant for sharing. Guests can connect to the Mozilla Guest ESSID which does not have a password. On the other hand, if you are an employee then you can login to any of the other wi-fi networks available (Mozilla, Mozilla5) with your LDAP credentials.

The setup using Linux isn’t too obvious, here are the settings needed to make it work:

• Security: WPA/WPA2 Enterprise
• Authentication: Protected EAP (PEAP)
• Inner Authentication: MSCHAPv2
• Username: LDAP Username, should be in the form name@mozilla.com
• Password: LDAP password

Using the space

The primary goals of Mozilla’s MozSpaces are to:

• Increase participating within the Mozilla community by providing opportunities to interact, learn, and collaborate together
• Enhance the Mozilla experience globally by expanding our footprint, and recruiting world class Mozillians
• Increase the Mozilla mindshare and connection with local communities

See also the full guidelines to using our Space.

Our London Space comfortably seats 35 or 40 standing. With tables we can realistically only seat 20-25.

Finding us

The address:

Metal Box Factory

Suite 441, 4th floor

30 Great Guildford Street

London

SE1 0HS

Map

If you're travelling with a Mozilla group, e.g. for work weeks, you will more than likely be staying in Hilton London Bankside. Our office is only 4 mins walk away from the hotel.

If you’re travelling by Tube (London Underground) the closest station to the space is London Bridge station (0.5 miles, 11 mins) which is on the Jubilee Line and the Northern Line.

From London Bridge underground station

1. Leave the underground station, exit to Southwark Street
2. Turn left onto Southwark Street
3. Continue onto Southwark Street
4. Turn right onto Great Guildford Street
5. Metal Box Factory building is next to the restaurant "Hixter" on the right hand side.

route on Google Maps

Travelling to London

If you’re coming from continental Europe, you may wish to explore the possibility of using either the Eurostar train, or choosing a flight that will arrive at the London City Airport, as both of these options will drop you conveniently close to the centre of London.

Trans-continental travellers should expect to arrive at either Heathrow or Gatwick airports. While these airports are quite distant from the city centre, both are relatively well serviced by above and underground trains, as well as bus and taxi service.

From Heathrow by train

1. Take the London Underground (“the tube”) from the Heathrow terminals towards the city centre (Heathrow is at the end of the line). Heathrow has three London Underground stations – one for Terminals 1, 2 and 3; and one each at Terminal 4 and Terminal 5. Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 station is in the central area between the terminals, which are a few minutes walk away via underground walkways. Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 stations are in the basements of the terminal buildings. More details.
2. Change at Green Park station and get on the Jubilee Line
3. Get off at London Bridge station Finding Us

Travelling to London on the Piccadilly Line, then Jubilee Line take around 1 hour. It has 1 connection, costs £6 cash, or £5.10 with an Oyster card each way. Beware that staff will be encouraging people to buy Heathrow Express tickets, but these are not what you want for the Underground and will take you to Paddington station, which means 2 connections and the similar journey time. Buying a top-up Oyster card is highly recommended as these reduce fares by up to 50% and can be refunded (including deposit) at the end of the trip.

From Heathrow by car

This company offers fair priced car transport (much cheaper than hailing a cab from outside the airport): Heathrow Cars

From Gatwick by train

1. Head to the railway station outside the South Terminal (is only a few minutes away from the North Terminal by a free shuttle)
2. Take the train to London Bridge, they come regularly (avoid Gatwick express)
3. Get off at London Bridge

Travelling around in London

If you are spending the day in London or plan on moving on from us at any time here are some useful travel links to help you on your way:

• For fares: Transport for London (if you plan on moving around a lot a all-day travel card may be useful)
• For train times: National Rail (they also have an app for Apple, Android and Blackberry Devices)
• For planning your journey ahead: Journey Planner Transport for London
• For Tube Maps: London Underground (again an app is also available on Apple and Android)

The Great British Summer

The UK has a bit of a reputation for poor and unreliable weather but don't let this stop you from coming down. Just take a look at BBC Weather or Met Office weather and see if you need an umbrella or sun screen.

Hotels

TODO

Car Hire

• TODO: List of companies
• Employees: See here for special Mozilla rate.

Smoking Policy

Pursuant to both the Health Act 2006 (c 28), and the tenant agreement of Metal Box Factory, smoking is not permitted anywhere on the building premises — this includes the common areas as well as balconies and other attached outdoor spaces. If you want to smoke head on out to Great Guildford street.

Dog Policy

Dogs are allowed on the Mozilla floors but not in the rest of the building. Therefore bringing in your dog will require you to carry the dog through reception area and up through the fire escapes. You need to make sure someone is at the office end to let you in.

Employees

For employee specific content (building access cards/maintenance contact numbers &c.): https://mana.mozilla.org/wiki/display/WPR/London+Office+Guide

icecc cluster

If you are an employee and you compile a lot of C code, the internal network has an icecc cluster which lets you distribute compile jobs to computers in the office with free CPU cycles.

You can find more information about using icecc at Mozilla on MDN.

Meeting rooms

Our meeting rooms have a cockney rhyming slang theme:

• Apples & Pears
• Bees & Honey
• Dog & Bone
• Frog & Toad
• Lady Godiva
• Rub a Dub
• Supersonic
• Tea Leaf

Coffee and Cafes

• Monmouth Coffee (reviews): Providers of the office coffee beans. They have excellent espresso and pours. Tiny, quite busy, has communal tables in the back. Some seating outside–nice in summer!

Bars and Pubs

Close to the space

• Borough Market: Borough Market is rich with history, but it remains as relevant now as it has ever been. As London’s oldest food market, it has been serving the people of Southwark for 1,000 years, and that extraordinary heritage is an important part of its appeal. (8 Southwark St, London SE1 1TL)

• The Breakfast Club (speakeasy): Enter the fake SMEG fridge in this All Day Breakfast restaurant to find the speakeasy bar named Mayer of Scardy Cat town. Average Cocktail Price £6-8. (11 Southwark St, London SE1 1RQ)

• The George Inn Yard: located on Borough High Street you'll find London's only surviving galleried coaching inn. National Trust owned & operated, it still holds an active pub today. (75-77 Borough High Street, Southwark, London, SE1 1NH)

Chain restaurants

Unfortunately London is rife with mostly average tourist-trap chain restaurants which is a shame because with a bit of local knowledge you can find far better food elsewhere.

However there are a few “safe” chain restaurants that offer medium range food for medium range price if you’re happy with such compromises. The other benefit of these are that they can often accept large groups at short notice. If you really have to, our recommendations for these are:

• Pizza Express: Ubiquitous chain favoured by middle class families, offering a reasonable selection of thin-crust pizza and pasta dishes.

• Wagamama: Fusion Japanese. Not recommended if you are anywhere near china town.

• Nando’s: I have nothing nice to say about this, so maybe someone else could try? (Well it's spatchcocked spicy chicken and chips. From South Africa via Portugal. Popular with the masses.)

• Jamie’s Italian: Reasonable chain Italian owned by the celebrity chef. Does a selection of pasta, meat and fish dishes but not pizza. Should always have some tables for walk ins (and booking isn't possible on a Friday evening or Saturday), but it's popular so you should be prepared to wait.

• Ping Pong. Dim Sum for when Chinatown is too much of a risk.

Stay away from: Steak & Co, Bella Italia, Angus Steakhouse, Prezzo, Spaghetti House, All Bar One, Masala Zone, TGI Fridays.

Todo

• ATM: nearest cash machine is 2 minutes walk at Natwest (90 - 100 Southwark St, London SE1 0SW).
• Newsagent (11-17 Great Guildford St, London SE1 0ES).
• Chemist: Boots pharmacy (Unit 142 London Bridge Station, London, SE1 9SP)
• Supermarket: 2 mins walk away is a Marks & Spencer ( 21, 90 Bankside, London SE1 0HX), and there are a small Tesco and a Sainbury's opposite each other on Great Suffolk Street (Great Suffolk St, London SE1 0UG).
• Fun things to do in London:
  • 360° view of London from Tate Modern. Free access. http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/viewing-level
  • BFI Southbank & BFI Imax The British Film Institute was formed by Royal Charter in 1933 to preserve filmmaking and television in the UK. BFI Southbank (Belvedere Road, South Bank, London SE1 8XT) four screens regularly hosts films from their archives alongside world and arthouse cinema. BFI Imax (1 Charlie Chaplin Walk, London SE1 8XR) is the largest screen in the UK (20 meters high and 26 meters wide), and blasts a 12,000 Watt digital sound system. Major releases and often in 3D.
  • St Paul's Cathedral a quick walk across the London Millenium Footbridge (in front of Tate Modern) and you arrive at the 1,400 year old location of St Paul's. It's been rebuilt 5 times! The interior is quite breath-taking: a secret staircase to the whispering gallery, the dizzying heights of its iconic dome, to the depths of its Crypt. (St Paul's Churchyard, London, EC4M 8AD)
• Getting around:
  • Taxi numbers
  • Cycle Hire Scheme - Santander Cycles Just £2 for each day's access. Each 30 minute ride is included (local tip: just leave 5 minutes between each 30 minutes), price rapidly increasing if you ride for longer than 30 minutes.
• Use of kitchen areas, please tidy up etc
• Link to PDF guide for the new coffee machine
• Links to the events calendar (calendar) / lanyrd / eventbrite pages
• Links to the MozLDN logo / templates for event signs (so people can print out signs for their daytime/evening events to stick up at the entrance/put on reception...)
• Links to the London tech community: Shoreditch, Old Street, Design Museum (224-238 Kensington High Street London, W8 6AG), Digital Catapult (101 Euston Road, London NW1 2RA ), Future Cities Catapult (One Sekforde St, London, EC1R 0BE), Realities Centre (4 Christopher St, London, EC2A 2BS), Skills Matter, Google Campus
• TechUK Brexit Hub