The Exchange Building is a

residential building A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

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 ...

named after the original purpose of the building, which was to be a

Telephone Exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syst ...

for British Telecom. In the end BT never used the building instead using a building immediately behind in Jerome St - 1928 by the Office of Works. The Exchange Building is located on the A1202 Inner London Arterial Ring Road at 132 Commercial Street in

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

. The Exchange Building stands opposite the Peabody building and is tall, with 8 storeys. The building features the original metal and glass window design, which was intended to resemble the original Telephone Exchange style, with residential flats on each floor. The Exchange Building benefits from 24-hour porters as well as an underground car park.

History

Built in 1936 on the former site of the Royal Cambridge Music Hall, it was originally a sleek and showier extension of the former tobacco works of Godfrey Philips & Son trading at 116 Commercial St. It was rebuilt and extended by W. Gilbee Scott and BWH Scott in 1922-5 and with faience facings in 1927. Above the central entrance, raised attic with Art Deco fluting and clock. The top storey was added in 1998-9 when converted to residential apartments. The building was the first in a wave of converted residential buildings in East London, as the

area was gentrified at the turn of the 21st Century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exchange Building Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Residential buildings completed in 2000 Commercial Street, London

History

See also

References