Bush House, London
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Bush House is a
Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
at the southern end of Kingsway between
Aldwych Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts east-northeast of Charing Cross, the conventional map centre-point of the city ...
and the Strand in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, and constructed under his direction. The design was approved in 1919, work began in 1925, and was completed in 1935. Erected in stages, by 1929 Bush House was already declared the "most expensive building in the world".BBC Buildings: Bush House
. BBC. (1 January 1970). Now mainly part of the Strand Campus of
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, Bush House previously served as the headquarters of the
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...
. Broadcasting from Bush House lasted for 70 years, from winter 1941 to summer 2012. The final BBC broadcast from Bush House was the 12noon BST news bulletin on 12 July 2012. The BBC World Service is now housed in
Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The ma ...
in
Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the Third Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to BBC Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British ...
.
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
has taken over the premises since acquiring the lease in 2015. The longtime occupation of part of Bush House by
HM Revenue and Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...
(and its predecessor department the
Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...
) ended in March 2021 when it vacated the South-West Wing. This wing will also become a part of King's College London's Strand Campus, ensuring all wings of the building are now occupied by the University.


History

The building was commissioned, designed and originally owned by American individuals and companies. Irving T. Bush gained approval for his plans for the building in 1919, which was conceived as a major new trade centre and designed by American architect
Harvey Wiley Corbett Harvey Wiley Corbett (January 8, 1873 – April 21, 1954) was an American architect primarily known for skyscraper and office building designs in New York and London, and his advocacy of tall buildings and modernism in architecture. Early life ...
. The construction was undertaken by John Mowlem & Co. Sections of Bush House were completed and opened over a period of 10 years: Centre Block was opened in 1925, North-West Wing in 1928, North-East Wing in 1929, South-East Wing in 1930, and South-West Wing in 1935. The full building complex was completed in 1935. The building's opening ceremony was performed by
Lord Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As foreign secretary in the ...
,
Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The Lord ...
, on 4 July 1925. It included the unveiling of two statues at the entrance made by American artist Malvina Hoffman. The statues symbolise Anglo-American friendship and the building bears the inscription "To the friendship of English speaking peoples". Built from
Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building ...
, Bush House was in 1929 declared the "most expensive building in the world".


Headquarters of the BBC World Service

The BBC European Service moved into the South-East Wing of Bush House after bombs damaged
Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The ma ...
on 8 December 1940 during
The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
. The move was completed in 1941 and the
BBC Overseas Service #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. ...
...
followed in 1958. The BBC World Service occupied four wings of the building. In 1944 Bush House suffered external damage from a
V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany ...
. The North-West Wing was formerly occupied by
BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childr ...
until they relocated to the BBC Media Village in 2005, with some studio and office space being retained until 2008. The BBC also moved its World Service to
Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The ma ...
. The final broadcast from Bush was on 12 July 2012. Bulletins now come from Broadcasting House. The BBC's lease expired at the end of 2012.


King's College London campus

A full refurbishment of Bush House and its adjoining wings was undertaken by John Robertson Architects following the BBC's vacation. Bush House, along with North-East Wing, North-West Wing, South-East Wing and Melbourne House were stripped back to CAT A and fully modernised whilst retaining original period features. The intended use was open plan offices with reception spaces for each of the buildings given an individual identity. The courtyard was to remain as a car park/delivery point. Completion of this work transpired in June 2014 as part of the much-marketed Aldwych Quarter. On 10 March 2015,
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
announced it had acquired a 50-year lease for the Aldwych Quarter. as a substantial part of its expansion of its Strand Campus John Robertson Architects undertook the interior fit-out to convert Aldwych Quarter into a fully operational, modern university campus, including installation of a 400 seat auditorium, lecture theatres, seminar rooms, academic offices and a health centre. The courtyard has been converted from car parking to semi-public realm and features a new glass pavilion offering access to the Students' Union and undercroft joining the building's wings together. Since its foundation on 1 August 2017, the King's Business School has been located inside Bush House. It came forth from the ''School of Management and Business'' to form the 9th faculty of the university. To ‘support world class education and research with environments which foster creativity and engagement.’ the central block hosts ''The Department of Informatics'' which brings together innovators from the business and technology worlds. King's College London Students' Union (KCLSU) also occupies Bush House. Its Union Shop opened in The Arcade in September 2017, followed by a series of other student spaces in Spring 2018. KCLSU represents all students at King's, but operates as a charity, independent of the university. File:Staircase Bush House (8013461566).jpg, A stairway in Bush House File:Detail of Bush House, Aldwych (geograph 4238551).jpg, Detail of the exedra File:English_speaking_peoples.jpg, To the Friendship of English speaking peoples monument


See also

Related buildings: * Bush Terminal *
Bush Tower The Bush Tower (also the Bush Terminal Building, the Bush Terminal International Exhibit Building and formerly the Bush Terminal Sales Building) is a skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, just east of Times Squa ...
Related persons: * Marian Spore Bush * Rufus T. Bush


References


External links


"World Service staff bid farewell to iconic Bush House"
World Radio and TV, BBC News.
An album of technical photos of the BBC at Bush House, 1961–2005
{{Navboxes, list1= {{King's College London {{BBC {{BBC Television {{BBC World Service BBC offices, studios and buildings Cultural and educational buildings in London Office buildings in London Local mass media in London Commercial buildings completed in 1925 Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Aldwych King's College London
Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...