Why “Cypher”? 

The site had no number. Where are we in the street? Opposite to house number One preceding number Two.

Number “0” or “Zero” is unacceptable to the authorities. It suggests to some that we might not exist – an age old fear. Maybe the position is just a placeholder - a dent in the earth where something was temporarily counted.

“Cypher” to the rescue.

Dictionary definitions of Cypher:
1. An arithmetical symbol (0) of no value by itself but which when placed after a figure or figures in whole numbers increases their value tenfold. 2. He who or that which fills a place but is of no importance, a non-entity. 3. A secret manner of writing by any or various methods intelligible to only to those possessing the key.  4. A system of writing that prevents most people from understanding the message

Problem solved. We can exist.   We are encoded. Perfect for describing a dissembling façade to the street, partially hidden by the redbrick wall that the authorities demanded we rebuild  - this thin red line a cordon sanitaire for the conservation zone in which we find ourselves.