Old City Hall is a building in
Bermondsey, London, which previously served as the headquarters of the
Greater London Authority
The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...
(GLA) between July 2002 and December 2021. It is located in the
London Borough of Southwark, 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, s ...
near
Tower Bridge. In June 2020, the GLA started a consultation on proposals to vacate the then City Hall and move to
The Crystal, a GLA-owned property in
Newham
The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...
, at the end of 2021.
The decision was confirmed on 3 November 2020 and the GLA vacated City Hall on 2 December 2021. The Southwark location is ultimately owned by the government of
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
.
History
The City Hall building was designed by
Norman Foster and was constructed at a cost of £43 million on a site formerly occupied by
wharves serving the
Pool of London. It opened in July 2002, two years after the GLA was created, and was leased rather than owned by the GLA. Despite its name, City Hall did not serve a city (
according to UK law). It had responsibilities over Greater London, which should not be confused with the
City of London
The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, which has its headquarters at the
Guildhall
A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...
.
In June 2011, Mayor
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
announced that for the duration of the London
2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, the building would be called ''London House''.
In November 2020, Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan
Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
announced plans to vacate City Hall at the end of 2021 and relocate to
The Crystal in the
Royal Victoria Docks area of
East London.
Khan cited the high cost of rent as the reason for relocating the GLA headquarters, stating that vacating City Hall in favour of a property owned by the authority would save it £55 million over the course of five years.
In 2023, St Martins Property announced that the architectural firms of
Gensler
Gensler is a global design and architecture firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is the largest architecture firm in the world by revenue and number of architects.
In 2022, Gensler generated $1.785 billion in revenue, the most o ...
and LDA Design had completed a plan to redesign the unused structure as a mixed-use office and retail building. It was intended to replace the iconic spiral with leafy terraces
[ and replace the glazing with different materials. The proposals were approved by Southwark Council in December 2024. Around of floor space - of office space and of retail space - would be added to the building, following straightening of the slant on its southern side, extending the footprint of the building by 14.2m.
]
Design
The building has an unusual, bulbous shape, purportedly intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency, although the excess energy consumption caused by the exclusive use of glass (in a double façade) overwhelms the benefit of shape. Despite claiming the building "demonstrates the potential for a sustainable, virtually non-polluting public building", energy use measurements have shown this building to be fairly inefficient in terms of energy use (375 kWh/m2/yr), with a 2012 Display Energy Performance Certificate rating of "E". It has been compared variously to a helmet (either Darth Vader's or simply a motorcyclist's), a misshapen egg, and a woodlouse
Woodlice are terrestrial isopods in the suborder Oniscidea. Their name is derived from being often found in old wood, and from louse, a parasitic insect, although woodlice are neither parasitic nor insects.
Woodlice evolved from marine isopods ...
. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle", while his successor, Boris Johnson, made the same comparison using a different word, "The Glass Gonad" and more politely as "The Onion".
A helical walkway
In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails.
'' The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. ...
ascends the full ten storeys. At the top is an exhibition and meeting space with an open viewing deck that was occasionally open to the public. The ramp could not be used as intended for security reasons. The walkway provides views of the interior of the building, and is intended to symbolise transparency; a similar device was used by Foster in his design for the rebuilt Reichstag (parliament), when Germany's capital was moved back to Berlin. In 2006 it was announced that photovoltaic cell
A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect. s would be fitted to the building by the London Climate Change Agency.
The debating chamber
A debate chamber is a room for conducting the business of a deliberative assembly or otherwise for debating. When used as the meeting place of a legislature, a debate chamber may also be known as a council chamber, legislative chamber, assembly ...
was located at the bottom of the helical stairway. The seats and desks for assembly members were arranged in a circular form.
Location
The building is located on The Queen's Walk, a part of the extended pedestrianised south-side embankment 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, s ...
in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms part of a larger development called More London, including offices and shops. The nearest London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Undergro ...
and National Rail station is London Bridge.
In popular culture
In 2015, City Hall acted as location for the fictional HQ of the Joint Intelligence Service in the James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
film '' Spectre''. The building appeared taller, and in a different Thames-side location in the movie through the use of computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is a specific-technology or application of computer graphics for creating or improving images in Digital art, art, Publishing, printed media, Training simulation, simulators, videos and video games. These images ...
. In 2016 the walkways were filled with musicians during Open House London in a site-specific work by British composer Samuel Bordoli, which explored the unique acoustic of the structure. In 2018, the final selection for the television show ''The Apprentice'' was filmed in City Hall.
It is featured in the '' Mario Kart'' games '' Mario Kart Tour'' and '' Mario Kart 8 Deluxe'' as part of the London Loop racecourse. The 2025 film '' Mickey 17'' was filmed inside City Hall.
Gallery
File:Ayuntamiento y Shard, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 076.JPG, Southwark 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, s ...
, near Tower Bridge
File:Tower Bridge from London City Hall 2015.jpg, Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...
viewed from the balcony around the top of the building.
File:City Hall, London.jpg, A view of City Hall in London from the River Thames
File:City.hall.london.arp.jpg, A view from the high walkway of Tower Bridge
File:GLA Chamber.jpg, The debating chamber inside the building
File:City Hall -Side View- in Miniland, Legoland Windsor.JPG, Model of London City Hall in Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor Resort (), styled and also known as Legoland Windsor, is a theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego brand. The park opened on 17 March 1996 and is currently operated by Merlin Entertainment ...
See also
* County Hall
* Inclined building
References
External links
Greater London Authority – City Hall
{{LB Southwark
2002 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
Government buildings completed in 2002
Greater London Authority
High-tech architecture
Inclined buildings
Lattice shell structures
Foster and Partners buildings
Neo-futurist architecture
Privately owned public spaces
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Southwark