Minerva House was built between 1979 and 1983 as the London office of

Grindlays Bank The historic overseas bank was established in London in 1828 as Leslie & Grindlay, agents and bankers to the British army and business community in India. Banking operations expanded to include the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and elemen ...

with Twigg, Brown & Partners as architects. The yellow brick building features narrow windows between closely paired piers. It sits on the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

just west of

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

History

The site

Extract from OS 1 to 1250 map of London (TQ3280SE) 1952

Cartographic sources show that the site has previously housed: * The

Close Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...

of the nearby

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

since the 14th century *Hibernia Wharf since at least 1888 *New Hibernia Wharf since at least 1947

Sales

Minerva House looking down to the Thames c1986

Minerva House was sold for around £42 million in 2005 and for £60 million in 2012.

Use

Following the acquisition of Grindlays by

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around ...

in 2000, the building was refurbished during 2006 and is now in mixed use with of office space over six floors and thirty four

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

in of residential space.

Owners

The current owners are

Great Portland Estates Great Portland Estates plc (branded as GPE) is a British property development and investment company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status whe ...

with four office space tenants: Winckworth Sherwood LLP, TUI,

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust of the English National Health Service, one of the prestigious Shelford Group. It runs Guy's Hospital in London Bridge, St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo, Evelina London Childr ...

and Wandle Housing Association Ltd

References

{{reflist Office buildings completed in 1983 Office buildings in the London Borough of Southwark