54 Broadway

54 Broadway
Broadway Buildings
Map
General information
LocationWestminster, London
Coordinates51°30′00″N 0°08′00″W / 51.49989°N 0.13347°W / 51.49989; -0.13347
Completed1924
Technical details
Floor count9

54 Broadway, sometimes known as Broadway Buildings, is an office building in Broadway, London.

History

The building, which has a prominent mansard roof, was completed around 1924, when it became the main operating base for the Secret Intelligence Service.[1][a] During the Second World War it had a brass plaque identifying it as the offices of the "Minimax Fire Extinguisher Company".[1] Sir Stewart Menzies, Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, had access to a tunnel, which connected 54 Broadway to his private residence in Queen Anne's Gate.[2] Kim Philby, who worked in the building during the war, described it as, "a dingy building, a warren of wooden partitions and frosted glass windows...served by an ancient lift."[3]

The Secret Intelligence Service moved out to Century House in 1964.[4] During the 1990s, the building was used by the project team for the Jubilee Line Extension to the London Underground.[5]

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ SIS had previously been based at 2 Whitehall Court.

Citations

  1. ^ a b Berkeley, Roy (1994). A Spy's London. London: Leo Cooper. pp. 7–8. ISBN 9781473827202. OCLC 973676356.
  2. ^ Judd, Alan (24 September 2000). "One in the Eye for the Vauxhall Trollop". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  3. ^ Philby, Kim (2003) [1968]. My Silent War. London: Modern Library. p. 64. ISBN 9780375759833. OCLC 892590995.
  4. ^ "Top Secret: A Century of British Espionage". The Independent. London. 6 October 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Bob (2003). Jubilee Line Extension From Concept to Completion. Thomas Telford. p. 12. ISBN 978-0727730282.

General sources