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Queen's Gate House, still commonly known by its previous name of Baden-Powell House, is a conference centre in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London. It was built as a tribute to
Lord Baden-Powell
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...
, the founder of
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
, and has served as the headquarters for
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was for ...
, as a hostel providing modern and affordable lodging for Scouts,
Guides
A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom.
Travel and recreation
Exp ...
, their families and the general public staying in London and as a conference and event venue.
The building committee, chaired by
Sir Harold Gillett,
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
, purchased the site in 1956, and assigned
Ralph Tubbs
Ralph Tubbs OBE FRIBA (9 January 1912 – 23 November 1996) was a British architect. Well known amongst the buildings he designed was the Dome of Discovery at the successful Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London in 1951.
Ralph was edu ...
to design the house in the
modern architectural style. The foundation stone was laid in 1959 by World Chief Guide
Olave, Lady Baden-Powell
Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (''née'' Soames; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder o ...
, and it was opened in 1961 by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
. The largest part of the £400,000 cost was provided by the Scout Movement itself and the building previously included a number of tributes to the founder including hosting a small exhibition about Scouting, and a
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
statue of Baden-Powell by
Don Potter
Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher.
Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school. He joined ...
located outside the building.
Following the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
As of 2022, the COVID‑19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV‑2). Its impact has been broad, affecting general society, the ...
and a decline in numbers of Scouts using the facility, the Scout Association sold the building
to
Mander Portman Woodward
Mander Portman Woodward is a group of British independent schools, with branches in London, Birmingham and Cambridge, offering GCSE and A-Level courses.
The college is an alternative to the traditional school setting. Students at MPW do not we ...
who run it as an events and conference venue and are converting the hostel rooms into boarding accommodation for students.
History
Construction
Acting on a 1942 initiative by
Chief Scout A Chief Scout is the principal or head scout for an organization such as the military, colonial administration or expedition or a talent scout in performing, entertainment or creative arts, particularly sport. In sport, a Chief Scout can be the prin ...
Lord Somers
Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester, is a title that has been created twice. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1697 for Sir John Somers, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chancel ...
, a formal Baden-Powell House Committee was established by
The Scout Association
The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was for ...
in 1953 under the direction of
Sir Harold Gillett, later
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
. The committee's directive was to build a hostel to provide
Scouts
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
a place to stay at reasonable cost while visiting
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. For this purpose, in 1956 the committee purchased a bombed-out property at the intersection of
Cromwell Road
Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell, who once owned a hou ...
and
Queen's Gate
Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road.
The street is ...
at a cost of £39,000.
The
Scout Movement
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
raised the major part of the funding of £400,000 for building and furnishing the building between 1957 and 1959. Scouts throughout the country collected 'ship' halfpennies, and this raised the bulk of the money for the building.
Money was also raised through public appeals supported by publication in Scout Movement magazines, a collection of donations in 15,000 brick-shaped boxes, and 5,000 appeal letters signed personally by then Chief Scout
Lord Rowallan.
Scouts representing every county were present at the opening.
In a celebration on 17 October 1959 the foundation stone was laid by the World Chief Guide (
Olave Baden-Powell
Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (''née'' Soames; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting and co-founder o ...
), in the presence of Lord Mayor Sir Harold Gillett, the new Chief Scout
Sir Charles Maclean, and 400 other guests. A casket was buried under the foundation stone which held 1959 Scout mementoes, stamps, coins, photographs, etc., and a programme of the ceremony.
Use by the Scout Association
With 142
Queen's Scout
A King's Scout is a Scout (Scouting), Scout who has attained the King's Scout Award. The King's Scout Award is the highest youth award achievable in the Scouting movement in the Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom, Canada (Queen's ...
s as Guard of Honour, and live broadcast by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(commentator
Richard Dimbleby
Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator.
As host of the long-running current affairs ...
), Baden-Powell House was opened on 12 July 1961 by
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
.
Afterwards, she toured the house with the Chief Scout and the president of The Scout Association, her uncle
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...
. A black marble panel with gold lettering was put on the balcony in the hall to commemorate the event.
From 1974 to 2001, Baden-Powell House was the
headquarter
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...
s of The Scout Association, replacing their previous location in
Buckingham Palace Road
Buckingham Palace Road is a street that runs through Victoria, London, from the south side of Buckingham Palace towards Chelsea, forming the A3214 road. It is dominated by Victoria Station.
History
In the 18th century, the road was known as ...
for which a dedicated office extension to the house was opened by the Queen in November 1976.
As the association had expanded, the staff were split between Baden-Powell House and
Gilwell Park
Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre in East London located in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey, within Epping Forest, near the border with Chingford. The site is owned by The Scout Association, is used by Scouting and Gu ...
in the historic White House.
In 1987 elements of the building were adapted as an events and conference space, expanding the appeal of the building more broadly. In 1993, the Scout Association took the decision to relocate their headquarters and all of their staff to a new purpose-built building at Gilwell Park housing all the association's staff.
The decision was in part led by the deteriorating condition of the historic White House at Gilwell Park with the three phase project concluding in April 2001 when the headquarters formally moved to
Gilwell House.
As part of this development, the adjoining office block was sold to raise funds for the new construction.
As the owner of Baden-Powell House, The Scout Association received at this time a net income out of the revenues of approximately £1.5 million.
Thirty-five years after its opening, Baden-Powell House was refurbished in a six-month £2 million programme, providing all modern amenities such as private facilities for all rooms, double glazing, and air conditioning, as well as enhancing conference facilities for large and small events. Upon completion of the programme, the house was opened by the president of The Scout Association,
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British royal family. Queen Elizabeth II and Edward were first cousins through their fathers, King George VI, and Prince George, Duk ...
on 5 June 1997.
Since its inception, Baden-Powell House provided a hostel for people visiting London and since 2001 this became the main focus of the building. In the period 2004–2006 the hostel participated in the
Youth Hostel Association
Hostelling International (HI), formerly known as International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF), is a grouping of more than seventy National Youth Hostel Associations in over eighty countries, with over 4,000 affiliated hostels around the worl ...
, after which the Scout Association entered into an agreement with German company
Meininger Hotels with Scout members from the UK and abroad being able to stay at a reduced rate. It remained owned by the Scout Association, and advertised alongside the Gilwell Park Conference Centre and the
Scout Activity Centres. At its peak, it saw on average 30,000 people spending the night and 100,000 meals served in the restaurant.
Use by Mander Portman Woodward
In November 2020 it was announced that the Scout Association would sell the building as a result of the impact of the 2020 Covid crisis on the Scout Association's revenues.
In March 2021, the property was valued at £46,000,000. The sale was completed in August 2021 to an independent school
Mander Portman Woodward
Mander Portman Woodward is a group of British independent schools, with branches in London, Birmingham and Cambridge, offering GCSE and A-Level courses.
The college is an alternative to the traditional school setting. Students at MPW do not we ...
whose London campus is located in converted town houses a short distance away in Queen's Gate. They plan to retain the events and conference facilities as well as adding other bespoke teaching areas, including an art studio, and converting the hostel rooms into boarding accommodation for international students and students over the age of 14 years from September 2022.
Architecture
Architectural inspiration
![bphouse04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Bphouse04.jpg)
The house was designed by the architect
Ralph Tubbs
Ralph Tubbs OBE FRIBA (9 January 1912 – 23 November 1996) was a British architect. Well known amongst the buildings he designed was the Dome of Discovery at the successful Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London in 1951.
Ralph was edu ...
in 1956, whose works included the
Dome of Discovery
The Dome of Discovery was a temporary exhibition building designed by architect Ralph Tubbs for the Festival of Britain celebrations which took place on London's South Bank in 1951, alongside the River Thames. The consulting engineers were Fr ...
, the highlight of the 1951
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
...
. Tubbs' floor plans and a model of his design were displayed during a fundraising campaign and exhibition on 21 February 1957 in the Egyptian Hall of the
Mansion House.
The six storied building is designed in the
modern architectural style, as pioneered by the Swiss architect
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
from the late 1920s onwards, and predominating in the 1950s. At Baden-Powell House, Tubbs made the first floor overhang the ground floor, a Le Corbusier architectural design choice to free the building from the ground, such as seen in his
Pavillon Suisse
The Fondation Suisse or Pavillon Le Corbusier is a building designed by Le Corbusier between 1930–31 and is located at the Cité Internationale Universitaire, in Paris. Weston, Richard: ''Key Buildings of the 20th Century: Plans, Sections and El ...
at the
Cité Internationale Universitaire in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Additionally, Le Corbusier's
Sainte Marie de La Tourette
Sainte Marie de La Tourette is a Dominican Order priory, located on a hillside near Lyon, France, designed by the architect Le Corbusier, the architect’s final building. The design of the building began in May 1953 and completed in 1961. The comm ...
priory in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
shows two floors of monk's cells with small windows,
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...
ed over the more open floors below, another design choice used by Tubbs in the facade of Baden-Powell House. While Tubbs created Baden-Powell House in the modern architectural style of Le Corbusier, he used more architectural restraint in his own design choices. For example, he made the main visible building component brick rather than concrete. This heavier evolution of Le Corbusier's style was popular in England throughout the post-war years until replaced by the
Brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
style in the later 1960s.
Baden-Powell House was built to Tubbs' design by Harry Neal Ltd, for which they received the 1961 Gold Medal of the
Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers
The Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The organisation of Tylers (roof and floor tile layers) and Bricklayers existed in 1416; it was incorporated by a royal charter in 1568. Origi ...
.
At the opening, the house received the building design award for 'The building of most merit in London.'
Layout
The hostel and conference centre is entered from
Queen's Gate
Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road.
The street is ...
through a wide glazed
atrium
Atrium may refer to:
Anatomy
* Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart
* Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods
* Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain
* Pulmona ...
which serves as a large
foyer
A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, reception area or an entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cinema, etc. ...
containing the cafe. From the atrium the large hall is reached which can serve as an
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
with seating for up to 300 people. The first floor has a restaurant seating 100 guests; the second floor has meeting rooms and conference facilities for groups up to 80 delegates per room.
[In American usage (where the ground level is termed the "first floor"), the restaurant is on the second floor and the meeting/conference rooms are on the third floor] The upper floors contain 180 hostel bedrooms.
Baden-Powell collection
![Robert Baden-Powell by Don Potter 1960 crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Robert_Baden-Powell_by_Don_Potter_1960_crop.JPG)
For a number of years a notable collection of Baden-Powell memorabilia was displayed for visitors in 'The story of B-P' exhibition. This included many drawings and letters by Baden-Powell himself, such as the original of his ''
Last Message to Scouts
A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, an ...
'', ''Laws for me when I am old'' and several
first edition
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants.
First edition
According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...
s of his books. The exhibition also displayed the original painting by
David Jagger
David Jagger, RP, ROI (1891–1958) was an acclaimed English portrait painter.
He was a prolific portrait painter, renowned for his commissioned portraits of London's high society and British aristocracy, notable portraits include Robert Ba ...
, as presented to Baden-Powell on 29 August 1929 at the 'Coming of Age'
3rd World Scout Jamboree.
This painting, a personal favourite of Baden-Powell, is often used in publications throughout the Scout movement.
The Baden-Powell memorabilia was later moved to the headquarters for Scouting in the UK,
Gilwell Park
Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre in East London located in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey, within Epping Forest, near the border with Chingford. The site is owned by The Scout Association, is used by Scouting and Gu ...
and was instead replaced with a number of smaller displays available to the public in the reception area showing some traditional Scouting skills.
A nearly three-metre high
statue of Baden-Powell, at the time the only
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
statue in London, sculpted by his personal friend
Don Potter
Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher.
Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school. He joined ...
, was unveiled on 12 July 1961 by the
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...
as part of the official opening.
It was located outside the main entrance to the building for the duration of its time owned by the Scout Association and was moved in August 2021 to Gilwell Park.
See also
*
Baden-Powell International House, 25-story hotel of The Scout Association of Hong Kong in Kowloon, Hong Kong
*
Ellsworth Augustus Scout House, the Boy Scouts of America hostel, in Mendham, New Jersey, US
*
Jamboree on the Air
Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting and Guiding activity held annually; it is on the third full weekend in October. First held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957, it was devis ...
, call sign for Baden-Powell House is GB3BPH
*
Kandersteg International Scout Centre
The Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) is an international Scout centre in Kandersteg, Switzerland. The centre provides lodges, chalets and campsites covering 17 hectares of land. It is open to Scouts year round, as well as to non-Sco ...
*
Scout Adventures (The Scout Association)
Scout Adventures are a network of activity centres run by The Scout Association. They offer outdoor facilities, adventurous activities and experiences for members of the Scout Association, other youth organisations and school groups. The centre ...
References
External links
Official website of the Queen's Gate HouseLocation of Baden-Powell House on Streetmap
{{Coord, 51.4955, N, 0.1795, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Scouting spoken word files
Scouting museums
Biographical museums in London
Museums in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Residential buildings completed in 1961
Hostels
South Kensington