SIS Building

Background Previously based at 54 Broadway, the SIS relocated to Century House, a 22-storey office block on Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth, near Lambeth North and Waterloo stations, in 1964. Several industrial buildings were subsequently built on the site after the demolition of the pleasure gardens in the 1850s, including a glass factory, a vinegar works and a gin distillery. In 1988 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher approved the purchase of the new building for the SIS. The NAO put the final cost at £135.05 million for site purchase and the basic building or £152.6 million including the service's special requirements. The site is rumoured to include a tunnel under the Thames from the building to Whitehall. The numerous layers over which the building is laid out create 60 separate roof areas. Amenities for staff include a sports hall, gymnasium, aerobics studio, a squash court and a restaurant. The building also features two moats for protection. The building was completed in April 1994 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on 14 July 1994. Recent history elevation during 2018In September 2000, the building was attacked by unapprehended forces using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank rocket, causing superficial damage. The Metropolitan Police recovered the discarded rocket launcher at Spring Gardens park in Vauxhall, as well as finding remains of the rocket which had exploded against an eighth floor window. Dissident Irish Republicans were believed to have been behind the attack. Writing in The Daily Telegraph after the attack, journalist Alan Judd referred to detractors who wished a less visible physical presence for SIS; writing that "Both sides of the Whitehall debate might now claim vindication by the rocket attack: on the one hand, the building's profile made it an obvious target; on the other, a headquarters with expensive security protection has been shown to be necessary." In August 2010, two men from North Wales were arrested after a parcel bomb was found at the SIS building's postal handling centre. The Queen visited Vauxhall Cross for a second time in February 2006, and Charles, Prince of Wales visited in July 2008. In June 2013, Prince Harry visited Vauxhall Cross and was given a briefing on intelligence by staff. During the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, part of the celebrations for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012, the London Philharmonic Orchestra played the "James Bond Theme" as they passed the building. The Daily Telegraph wrote that "Even MI6 managed to join the party – just. Its headquarters at Vauxhall sported a few discreet rows of bunting. But its balconies remained empty." The building was lit with pink lights to raise awareness of breast cancer in 2013. In January 2013, the building was briefly put into a state of alert after the Vauxhall helicopter crash. ==Cultural influence==

Architectural criticism The SIS building was reviewed favourably by Deyan Sudjic in The Guardian in 1992; he described it as an "epitaph for the architecture of the eighties". Sudjic wrote that "It's a design which combines high seriousness in its classical composition with a possible unwitting sense of humour. The building could be interpreted equally plausibly as a Mayan temple or a piece of clanking art deco machinery", and added that the most impressive thing about Farrell's design was the way he had not "confined himself to a single idea" as the building "grows and develops as you move around it". James Bond films Vauxhall Cross has featured in a number James Bond films, where it is depicted as the home base of the fictional 00 Section and its associated Q Branch. The building was first featured in GoldenEye (1995), and was depicted as having been attacked in The World Is Not Enough (1999), Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015). For Skyfall, a model of the building was constructed at Pinewood Studios. ==See also==