Sea Containers House is a prominent building on the south bank of the River Thames, west of

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Chu ...

, in

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 ...

Location

Sea Containers House is located towards the eastern end of London's

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

cultural area, and is within the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

. A continuous river-side walkway, actually part of the

Thames Path The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble, Gloucestershire, Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Woolwich foot tunnel, south east London. It is about long. A path was first proposed in 1948 but it onl ...

, passes in front of and below the building, and links it with near river-side attractions such as the Festival Hall, the National Theatre, the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

, the

Oxo Tower The Oxo Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The building has mixed use as Oxo Tower Wharf containing a set of design, arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors with two galler ...

and the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

History

Sea Containers House was designed by noted American Modernist architect

Warren Platner Warren Platner (June 18, 1919 – April 17, 2006) was an American architect and interior designer. Platner produced a furniture collection that has proved to be a continuing icon of 1960s modernism. He is also famed with designing several promi ...

in 1974 as a luxury hotel. During construction, however, its location near the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

led to the decision to complete it instead as office space. It opened in 1978 and took its name from the former long-term tenant,

Sea Containers Sea Containers was a Bermudan registered company which operated two main business areas: transport and container leasing. It filed for bankruptcy on 16 October 2006. In 2009 its maritime container interests were transferred to a new company SeaC ...

. In Spring 2011, a process began to gain planning permission for an extensive internal and external refurbishment of Sea Containers House. The east and west wings, which face the Thames, remained offices, with companies within global communications group WPP moving in February 2016. The south wing was renovated as the Mondrian Hotel London, which opened on 30 September 2014, bringing at least part of the building back to its original intended use. The hotel became independent and was renamed Sea Containers London Hotel on 15 January 2019.

Cultural influence

In October 2009, three-piece music band

Gyratory System A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...

released the album ''The Sound-Board Breathes'' with a track named ''Sea Containers House''.

Notes

External links

Sea Containers House refurbishment consultation website
Office buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Hotels in the London Borough of Southwark Office buildings completed in 1978 {{London-struct-stub