URPoint Details
MI5 (Military Intelligence 5), or more correctly, the UK Security Service, has its headquarters today at Thames House, a Grade II listed building at the corner of Millbank and Horseferry Road in central London. It overlooks Lambeth Bridge, a few hundred yards south of the Houses of Parliament on the north bank of the Thames.
Information from the MI5 website:
Thames House was designed by Sir Frank Baines, the Principal Architect of the Government's Office of Works, and constructed in 1929-30. It was built on the site of a poor, run-down district that was widely regarded as a slum.
The area was devastated by the Thames flood of 7 January 1928, in which 14 people died. Following the flood, the damaged properties on the site were demolished, freeing up a large area of land for redevelopment.
Thames House was built at the same time as a number of other office buildings in the Millbank area. Its design is similar - though not identical - to that of Nobel House on the other side of Horseferry Road. The two buildings were constructed at the same time to serve as headquarters for Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI). Nobel House is now occupied by Ofgem, the Office of Gas and
- Type:
- Landmark