Millbank Tower

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 51°29′32.0″N 0°07′33.5″W / 51.492222°N 0.125972°W / 51.492222; -0.125972

Millbank Tower, from the north

Millbank Tower is a 118 metres (387 ft) high skyscraper in Central London at 21-24 Millbank. The Tower was constructed in 1963 for Vickers and was originally known as Vickers Tower. It was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and built by John Mowlem & Co. It is a visible landmark in the London skyline, sitting beside the River Thames, half a mile upstream from the Palace of Westminster. The tower has been owned by David and Simon Reuben since 2002, while still being managed by its former owner Tishman Speyer Properties. As a Grade II listed building, Millbank's physical form will always be preserved, and its iconic status prevented from falling into the hands of redevelopers.

The most famous resident in Millbank Tower's history was the Labour Party, although contrary to popular perception the Party never occupied any space in the tower itself. From 1995 the party rented two floors of the base at the south of the site for use as a general election campaign centre, including the ground floor which had a lecture theatre and meeting space which was used for press conferences. The Labour party ran its 1997 General Election campaign from there; after the election, the party vacated its headquarters at John Smith House, Walworth Road SE17 to move to Millbank. This use led to the term 'Millbank' becoming an allusion to strict political control and a concentration on spin. However, the £1 million per annum rent forced the party to vacate the tower in 2002 for 16 Old Queen Street.

The United Nations also had offices in Millbank Tower, vacating in June 2003, also citing high rents. Another occupier was the Central Statistical Office (predecessor of the Office for National Statistics).

Located at the top of Millbank Tower is the exclusive venue Altitude 360 London. The brainchild of entrepreneur Justin Etzin, Altitude 360 London has hosted numerous high profile events from The Mayor of Londons events to Fashion events attended by celebrities like Kate Moss and David Walliams. It was also the venue chosen by The current UK government The Labour party to launch British Tourism Week in 2008 hosted by The Prime Minister of The United Kingdom Gordon Brown. In June 2009 the venue doubled in size and now accommodates up to 600 guests in over 8300 SqFt of event space. Altitude 360 London is the largest venue in London located in a high building and offers both corporate and private clients the opportunity to hire the space for meetings, conferences and private functions.

Other floors in the tower are occupied by various organisations and commercial companies:

The Parliamentary Ombudsman Commission.
Free software promotion company Canonical Ltd., who maintain an office on the 27th floor. Canonical sponsors Ubuntu, currently the most widely used distribution of the Linux operating system.
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
The Local Government Ombudsman
The Conservative Party Campaign HQ. The Conservative Party have had their campaign head quarters in the building since 2006.
Salt and Pepper Private Food Design - High end event Caterers with Michelin trained chefs.

The 2003 edition of the Pevsner architectural guide says that Millbank Tower is "one of the few London office towers to have won affection", and contrasts it with the "boxy structure" of the Shell Tower at Waterloo .