GREAT OFFICE BLOCK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22398, 20 April 1936, Page 6

GREAT OFFICE BLOCK

PROJECT IN WHITEHALL CHANGING LONDON SKYLINE Designs have been approved by the British Cabinet for the now £1,750,000 block of Government offices in Whitehall. It will be one of the largest in the world. The demolition of Whitehall Gardens-'to make room for the new buildings will begin early next year. The first section, to house the Air Ministry, will be finished in 1940 or 1941.* The whole will be completed in 1945* or 1946. Other Ministries to be housed in the new offices are the Ministry of Labour, Board of Trade and Ministry of Pensions. There may be room for one other small Government department. The building will cover the rectangular space between Whitehall, Horse Guards Avenue, Richmond Terrace, and the Victoria Embankment. Its main features will be accommodation for 5360 civil servants, 4175 more than now occupy the site; a total floor area of nearly 16 acres; and an underground service yard, reached by an inclined road from Horse Guards Avenue, for delivery of supplies. It will consist of a single block, with three large internal courts. There will be two main facades, one facing Whitehall and one the Embankment. Each will contain eight main storeys above the basement, reaching a total height of 87ft. In each of the four transverse blocks there will be 11 storeys. They will reach a height of 128 ft. to the ridges of the roofs. Each will be considerably higher than any other building visible from Whitehall, except the Victoria and Clock Towers of the Houses of Parliament. Apart from these, the highest at present is New Scotland Yard, 108 ft. • London's skyline, seen from the nver, will be drastically changed by the new building. Bv setting tbe block some bnok from Whitehall Air. L. \ incetit 'Harris, the architect, hopes to prevent the Inigo Jones Banqueting House, the Roval United Service Institution and Gwydvr House from appearing unduly dwarfed.