New Scotland Yard, formerly known as the Curtis Green Building and before that as Whitehall Police Station, is a building in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London. Since November 2016, it has been the Scotland Yard headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the fourth such premises since the force's foundation in 1829. It is located on the

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...

and is situated within the

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

Conservation Area. It neighbours the

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

and Ministry of Defence buildings, together with

Richmond House Richmond House is a government building in Whitehall, City of Westminster, London. Its name comes from an historic townhouse of the Duke of Richmond that once stood on the site. History Stewart Dukes of Richmond Richmond House was first built ...

and

Portcullis House Portcullis House (PCH) is an office building in Westminster, London, United Kingdom, that was commissioned in 1992 and opened in 2001 to provide offices for 213 members of parliament and their staff. The public entrance is on the Embankment. Part ...

. The New Scotland Yard building was designed in 1935 by the English architect

William Curtis Green William Curtis Green (16 July 1875 – 26 March 1960) was an English architect, designer and barrister"Quite ceremony in Archbishop's Palace", ''The Nottingham Evening Post'', 3 August 1935, p. 8. who was based in London for much of his career. ...

, who was commissioned to build an annexe to the existing Norman Shaw North building, which had been the Metropolitan Police's headquarters since 1890. Together with the Norman Shaw South building, the three sites were split off in 1967, with the Norman Shaw buildings being taken over by the British Government and the Curtis Green annexe being retained by the police. The earlier annexe, built at the rear of the Norman Shaw South building in 1898 by the Met's surveyor and principal architect John Dixon Butler, was retained as a police station and used operationally until 1992. In 2013, as a result of an estate reorganisation, the former "New Scotland Yard" in the neighbouring

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

was sold and the force headquarters was relocated to the Curtis Green Building after extensive renovations. It was renamed

New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London' ...

in 2016.

History

Old 'New Scotland Yard' from the London Eye - geograph

The stone-fronted, stripped classical building was designed by the English architect

. Construction started in 1935 and finished five years later. The building was constructed as a third building and an extension to the then–New Scotland Yard building,"The Norman Shaw Buildings"
House of Commons fact sheet, p. 4. Retrieved 3 April 2015. which consisted of two buildings that had been completed in 1890 and 1906, which were connected by a bridge. The two structures are now known as the

Norman Shaw Buildings The Norman Shaw Buildings (formerly known as New Scotland Yard) are a pair of buildings in Westminster, London, overlooking the River Thames. The buildings were designed by the architects Richard Norman Shaw and John Dixon Butler, between 1887 a ...

. The earlier annexe, built at the rear of the Norman Shaw South building in 1898 by the Met's surveyor and principal architect John Dixon Butler, was retained as a police station and used operationally until 1992. The Curtis Green Building served as part of the Met's three-building headquarters during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and housed the forensics and technology departments. In 1967, the force relocated its main headquarters to 10 Broadway and sold the two Norman Shaw buildings to the British Government. The Curtis Green Building, however, remained a police building and became a sub-HQ for the force's territorial department until 2010. Before its 2015–2016 refurbishment, the building's dimensions were , with a total capable capacity of . In 2013 it was announced by the Met that its headquarters would be relocated from 10 Broadway to the Curtis Green Building as part of the force's drive to reduce costs. The building was redesigned and extended in a multi-million pound redevelopment during 2015–2016. It was renamed "New Scotland Yard"."BAM nabs £30m Scotland Yard HQ contract"
''Construction Enquirer'' website. Retrieved 3 April 2015. The refurbishment contract was awarded to Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and the project was engineered by Arup and the project's costs were managed by Arcadis; construction responsibilities were undertaken by the

Royal BAM Group Royal BAM Group nv ( nl, Koninklijke BAM Groep nv) is a Dutch construction-services business with headquarters in Bunnik, Netherlands. It is the largest construction company based on revenue in the Netherlands. History The company was founded by ...

. The MPS retained the "New Scotland Yard" revolving sign and moved it, along with the

Crime Museum The Crime Museum is a collection of criminal memorabilia kept at New Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, England. Known as the Black Museum until the early 21st century, the museum came into existence at ...

, to the new site.

References

Sources

External links

*
Metropolitan Police Branches
* Blumberg, Jess

Smithsonian.com, 28 September 2007. {{coord, 51, 30, 10, N, 0, 7, 27, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 1935 establishments in England Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Metropolitan Police administrative buildings Police headquarters Stripped Classical architecture