Portcullis House
Encyclopedia
Portcullis House is an office building in Westminster
, London
, UK
, that was commissioned in 1992 and opened in 2001 to provide offices for 213 Members of Parliament
and their staff, augmenting limited space in the Palace of Westminster
and surroundings.
The architects, Michael Hopkins and Partners
, published their design in 1993 and the existing buildings on the site were demolished in 1994. At the same time, London Underground
was building the Jubilee Line Extension
, including a new interchange station at Westminster tube station
which occupies the same area; the two were thus designed and built as a single unit. Construction began with works to the existing District Line
station at sub-basement level. The track had to be lowered slightly and underpinned to allow the extensive excavation to the Jubilee Line
many feet below. The building above ground began to rise in 1998 and opened in 2001. It is located at the corner of Bridge Street and Victoria Embankment
, overlooking the River Thames
.
The building is named after the chained portcullis
used to symbolise the Houses of Parliament on letterheads and official documents. Portcullis House accommodates about one third of Members of Parliament; other Members and Parliamentary departments have offices in the two Norman Shaw Buildings, at 1 Parliament Street
, at 7 Millbank
and in the Palace of Westminster
itself.
The first floor of Portcullis House is open to members of the public to allow attendance at Committee sessions. Throughout the rest of the building, as with the rest of the Parliamentary Estate, members of the public must remain with a passholder. The entrance is guarded by police, and all visitors must submit their bags and coats for X-raying, as well as passing through a metal detector
and undergoing a body check. There is a Post Office
branch within Portcullis House that is not open to the public.
The building was designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners
and incorporates Westminster tube station below it. A thick slab of concrete separates Portcullis House from the station, reportedly to defend against any underground bomb attacks. The load is borne by the walls, without interior posts. The corners of the building are hung from the roof using massive steel beams . The design life of 120 years meant that aluminium bronze
was chosen for exposed metal on the roof and walls. The structure also includes Cornish granite and was the last contract to be manufactured at Merrivale Quarry on Dartmoor.
The building's curious profile, with its rows of tall chimneys, is intended to recall the Victorian Gothic design of the Palace of Westminster and to fit in with the chimneys of the Norman Shaw Building next door. Portcullis House's chimneys are not used to expel fumes but are part of an unpowered air conditioning system, which is designed to draw air through the building by exploiting natural convection
flows. It is based on the system used in 1996 in the Eastgate Centre, Harare
, Zimbabwe
.
The building itself was designed to look and feel like a ship inside. All the offices and passages are made up with bowed windows and light oak finishing. Each floor looks identical to the others except the ground floor which houses the main courtyard with ship-like metallic sails suspended overhead. The courtyard is decorated with trees and two shallow baths of water.
The offices at Portcullis House are generally in sets of two sharing a common bay in the centre. Each floor is unofficially allocated to a different political party so that generally MPs with similar politics are kept together. The first floor houses a number of conference suites and committee rooms, which are named after famous politicians Betty Boothroyd
, Harold Macmillan
, Margaret Thatcher
, Clement Attlee
, Harold Wilson
, and Jo Grimond. These Committee rooms are accessible to the public and are fitted with television cameras and microphones, to broadcast the proceedings via BBC Parliament
and via parliamentlive.tv.
All rooms in the building are fitted with annunciators (monitors which announce in real-time the current business in the Chambers of the House of Commons, the House of Lords
, or both). Division bells are also installed throughout the building, which alert MPs to the calling of a division (vote)
in the Chamber of the House of Commons.
On the ground floor are a range of services including a waiter-service restaurant ("The Adjournment"), informal cafeteria ("The Debate") and a coffee shop ("The Despatch Box"). There is also a Post Office and an e-Library, an enquiry point where Members and staff can use networked computers, run by the House of Commons Library
. There is also an underground passage into the Palace of Westminster and a connection to the 1 Parliament Street building and to the Norman Shaw Buildings. For security reasons this is now the main route of access for Parliament.
, £2m for electric blinds and, for each MP, a reclining chair at £440. A parliamentary inquiry into the over-spend was carried by Sir Thomas Legg
. Although completed in 2000, the report was never published.
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, that was commissioned in 1992 and opened in 2001 to provide offices for 213 Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and their staff, augmenting limited space in the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
and surroundings.
History and use
Hopkins Architects
Hopkins Architects Partnership LLP is a prominent British architectural firm established in 1976 by Sir Michael and Lady Patricia Hopkins. The practice has won many awards for its work and has twice been shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, including in 2011 for the 2012 London Velodrome and in...
, published their design in 1993 and the existing buildings on the site were demolished in 1994. At the same time, London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
was building the Jubilee Line Extension
Jubilee Line Extension
The Jubilee Line Extension is the extension of the London Underground Jubilee line from to through south and east London. An eastward extension of the Jubilee line was first proposed in the 1970s and a modified route was constructed during the 1990s...
, including a new interchange station at Westminster tube station
Westminster tube station
Westminster is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster. It is served by the Circle, District and Jubilee lines. On the Circle and District lines, the station is between St. James's Park and Embankment and, on the Jubilee line it is between Green Park and Waterloo. It is in...
which occupies the same area; the two were thus designed and built as a single unit. Construction began with works to the existing District Line
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
station at sub-basement level. The track had to be lowered slightly and underpinned to allow the extensive excavation to the Jubilee Line
Jubilee Line
The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground , in the United Kingdom. It was built in two major sections—initially to Charing Cross, in central London, and later extended, in 1999, to Stratford, in east London. The later stations are larger and have special safety features, both aspects...
many feet below. The building above ground began to rise in 1998 and opened in 2001. It is located at the corner of Bridge Street and Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment
The Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London.-Construction:...
, overlooking the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
.
The building is named after the chained portcullis
Portcullis
A portcullis is a latticed grille made of wood, metal, fibreglass or a combination of the three. Portcullises fortified the entrances to many medieval castles, acting as a last line of defence during time of attack or siege...
used to symbolise the Houses of Parliament on letterheads and official documents. Portcullis House accommodates about one third of Members of Parliament; other Members and Parliamentary departments have offices in the two Norman Shaw Buildings, at 1 Parliament Street
Parliament Street
Parliament Street is the name of several places including:*Parliament Street, Exeter, one of the world's narrowest streets in Exeter, England...
, at 7 Millbank
Millbank
Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster...
and in the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
itself.
The first floor of Portcullis House is open to members of the public to allow attendance at Committee sessions. Throughout the rest of the building, as with the rest of the Parliamentary Estate, members of the public must remain with a passholder. The entrance is guarded by police, and all visitors must submit their bags and coats for X-raying, as well as passing through a metal detector
Metal detector
A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...
and undergoing a body check. There is a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
branch within Portcullis House that is not open to the public.
Design
Hopkins Architects
Hopkins Architects Partnership LLP is a prominent British architectural firm established in 1976 by Sir Michael and Lady Patricia Hopkins. The practice has won many awards for its work and has twice been shortlisted for the Stirling Prize, including in 2011 for the 2012 London Velodrome and in...
and incorporates Westminster tube station below it. A thick slab of concrete separates Portcullis House from the station, reportedly to defend against any underground bomb attacks. The load is borne by the walls, without interior posts. The corners of the building are hung from the roof using massive steel beams . The design life of 120 years meant that aluminium bronze
Aluminium bronze
Aluminium bronze is a type of bronze in which aluminium is the main alloying metal added to copper, in contrast to standard bronze or brass...
was chosen for exposed metal on the roof and walls. The structure also includes Cornish granite and was the last contract to be manufactured at Merrivale Quarry on Dartmoor.
The building's curious profile, with its rows of tall chimneys, is intended to recall the Victorian Gothic design of the Palace of Westminster and to fit in with the chimneys of the Norman Shaw Building next door. Portcullis House's chimneys are not used to expel fumes but are part of an unpowered air conditioning system, which is designed to draw air through the building by exploiting natural convection
Convection
Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids and rheids. It cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids....
flows. It is based on the system used in 1996 in the Eastgate Centre, Harare
Eastgate Centre, Harare
The Eastgate Centre is a shopping centre and office block in central Harare, Zimbabwe whose architect is Mick Pearce. Designed to be ventilated and cooled by entirely natural means, it was probably the first building in the world to use natural cooling to this level of sophistication...
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
.
The building itself was designed to look and feel like a ship inside. All the offices and passages are made up with bowed windows and light oak finishing. Each floor looks identical to the others except the ground floor which houses the main courtyard with ship-like metallic sails suspended overhead. The courtyard is decorated with trees and two shallow baths of water.
The offices at Portcullis House are generally in sets of two sharing a common bay in the centre. Each floor is unofficially allocated to a different political party so that generally MPs with similar politics are kept together. The first floor houses a number of conference suites and committee rooms, which are named after famous politicians Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000, initially for the Labour Party and, from 1992 to 2000, as Speaker of the House of Commons...
, Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
, Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, and Jo Grimond. These Committee rooms are accessible to the public and are fitted with television cameras and microphones, to broadcast the proceedings via BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a British television channel from the BBC. Its remit is to make accessible to all the work of the parliamentary and legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and the European Parliament...
and via parliamentlive.tv.
All rooms in the building are fitted with annunciators (monitors which announce in real-time the current business in the Chambers of the House of Commons, the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, or both). Division bells are also installed throughout the building, which alert MPs to the calling of a division (vote)
Division (vote)
In parliamentary procedure, a division of the assembly is a voting method in which the members of the assembly take a rising vote or go to different parts of the chamber, literally dividing into groups indicating a vote in favour of or in opposition to a motion on the floor...
in the Chamber of the House of Commons.
On the ground floor are a range of services including a waiter-service restaurant ("The Adjournment"), informal cafeteria ("The Debate") and a coffee shop ("The Despatch Box"). There is also a Post Office and an e-Library, an enquiry point where Members and staff can use networked computers, run by the House of Commons Library
House of Commons Library
The House of Commons Library is the library and information resource of the lower house of the British Parliament. It has adopted the phrase "Contributing to a well-informed democracy" as a summary of its mission statement.- History :...
. There is also an underground passage into the Palace of Westminster and a connection to the 1 Parliament Street building and to the Norman Shaw Buildings. For security reasons this is now the main route of access for Parliament.
Cost
When commissioned in 1992 the cost of Portcullis House was to be £165m. After building cost inflation and delays, the price increased to £235m. Costs included £150,000 for decorative fig treesFicus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
, £2m for electric blinds and, for each MP, a reclining chair at £440. A parliamentary inquiry into the over-spend was carried by Sir Thomas Legg
Thomas Legg
Sir Thomas Stuart Legg, KCB, QC , is a senior former British civil servant, who was Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, United Kingdom, 1989-1998.-Biography:...
. Although completed in 2000, the report was never published.
External links
- Portcullis House, London, Michael Hopkins 2001, galinsky
- Inside Portcullis House, Ben Davies BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
2001-11-15