Portland House
51°29′51.3″N 00°8′30.1″W / 51.497583°N 0.141694°W
Portland House is a skyscraper in Westminster, London. It is 101 metres (331 ft) tall with 29 floors and was completed in 1963.
The building has two banks of lifts — the first serving the first up to the fifteenth floor, and the second the fifteenth floor upwards. Firms that currently use Portland House for office space include American Express, Crossrail, Caxton FX, HomeAway UK[1]/Owners Direct[2], NetBooster, TradeDoubler, uSwitch, Upmystreet.com, Rentokil Initial, AkzoNobel[3] and Regus.[1] The office building had the head offices of British United Airways.[2]
The building is a two minute walk from London Victoria station (mainline and tube) and Victoria Coach Station. The surrounding area has been redeveloped between 2003 and 2005[3] with a new shopping and refreshments area called Cardinal Place. The building also has a gym in the basement.[4]
The building is part of the Cardinal Place Estate, which includes the shopping centre and development around the building. Retail establishments such as Marks & Spencer, Boots, Thorntons, Zara, Ha Ha Bar and Zizi have taken retail space in the complex.
The ground floor has a portico arrangement of pillars which reflect the octagonal cross section of the building.
The Portland House is substantially similar in design to the MetLife Building in New York City. The two buildings were under construction at the same time.
This building was successfully climbed by French urban climber Alain Robert in 2007.
See also
References
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2009) |
- ^ http://www.regus.co.uk/locations/GB/London/LondonVictoria.htm?product=offices
- ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 28 September 1967. 530.
- ^ http://www.sir-robert-mcalpine.com/projects/?id=362
- ^ http://www.lafitness.co.uk/gym/london-victoria
External links
