Many thanks to Dan & Rebecca for their tour and commentary as we wandered the corridors and courtyards of the Treasury building.
Work started at 100 Parliament Street in 1899 to John Bryden's design. Stately, spacious and light with sweeping stairs and statues. But it was not until 1907 that the land was purchased for the 2nd half of the building, demolishing narrow streets, houses and churches. Sir Henry Tanner, a Government Architect, incorporated & finished the new building quickly and cheaply by 1917, ditching some of Bryden's original ideas including 580 fireplaces. So a building of two halves.
Moving swiftly forward, it received a much needed revamp in the early 2000's, sympathetically given by (Sir Norman) Foster & Partners via a PFI initiative, including the addition of a new mansard roof and opening up inner courtyards with gardens, ponds and benches. Today it is an exciting, efficient workplace with every desk having natural light and lots of it ! Although much is open plan now, one cannot avoid the corridors, one is even Listed as a 'heritage corridor'.
Some ordinary meeting rooms, off our first corridor, were used by Sir Winston & Lady Clementine Churchill as their private living and bedrooms during WW2, not wanting to sleep in the Cabinet War Rooms underneath and underground. See photo below. The building has 3 levels of basements and there is a constant flow of water through a channel in the sub-basement. Our river Tyburn perhaps ? Now up to the 'heritage corridor', past the Chancellor's enormous, carved office door ! Each current chancellor may choose what artwork they would like from the Government's extensive collection (on view near Tottenham Court Road - a Pippa visit a few year's ago !). Mr Hammond is said to prefer large, classical pictures but some of Gordon Brown's more smaller, modern pieces are still to be seen. Now into the very grand Old Chancellor's Room (see photo below) and then the Churchill Room where the creation of the NHS and the Independence of the Bank of England, amongst other monumental plans, were worked on and signed. Glimpsing, through the net curtains, the narrow balcony where Churchill delivered his VE day speech, which at the time was the Ministry of Health's boardroom. Then out into 'the Drum', the huge round central courtyard, with tremendous echoes, used for filming The Fast & The Furious and for speeches by George Osborne and the Pope ! Not missing a view, through tall iron gates, past the FCO, straight to No.10 Downing Street. During the war, the Drum had been covered in anti-torpedo netting. Very successfully, as a torpedo sat on it from 1914 to 1950 when it was eventually removed.
We didn't meet Gladstone, the Treasury cat, but his reputation was hailed of catching 14 mice since he had been in residence. Thank you again to the organisers for their time and enthusiasm. Congratulations too on the 100th birthday of the building.
