Boris Johnson asked Grimshaw to jazz up its re-design of London Bridge Station when he was mayor of London, suggesting the studio add "gargoyles along the front".
The UK prime ministerial hopeful met partners at Grimshaw several times during the process of re-designing RIBA award-winning London Bridge Station, a major infrastructure project in central London completed last year.
During these meetings, the then-mayor called the elevation plans "boring", and suggested that the brickwork arches should be covered with gargoyles to make it more interesting.
This was delivered, Grimshaw partner Mark Middleton told Dezeen, while Johnson had his feet on the desk of the presentation room.
Johnson complained the roof of London Bridge Station wasn't big enough. Photo is by Ralph Hodgson Johnson is currently one of two candidates in the running to become the leader of the UK's Conservative Party and therefore the prime minister.
"It's just a bit boring, isn't it"
The two meetings Middleton had with Johnson and the Greater London Authority (GLA) were more of a "courtesy" he said, as the designs had already been given planning permission at this stage.
"At the first meeting he kept asking why it wasn't like St Pancras, why didn't it have a big roof"" said Middleton.
"We didn't get into the aesthetics of it. He couldn't accept that the space underneath was a grand space," he added. "He kept giving me a lesson on Gilb...