The Treasury Building - 1 Horse Guards Road
Government Offices Great George Street – a history
The Cabinet War Rooms
Finding 1 Horse Guards Road
New office accommodation for the Treasury at 1 Horse Guards Road, Whitehall, was opened by Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Board on 25 September 2002.
The increased space available in the new building (known as 1HGR) will enable all Treasury staff to work in the same building for the first time in over 50 years.
This major step forward in working conditions and working methods for Treasury staff was achieved through a complete refurbishment of the western end of the building known as Government Offices Great George St (GOGGS), delivered on budget and ahead of time in a successful innovative value for money Private Finance Initiative (PFI) public sector project.
1HGR provides a flexible working environment incorporating open plan and team working space, enhanced IT facilities, and a full range of support services for about 1200 Treasury and contract support staff. This has enabled about 300 staff previously working from offices in Allington Towers, Victoria, to join colleagues at 1HGR, improving communication and producing savings in accommodation and other costs of working from two sites.
1HGR now provides effective working space and up to date facilities for a major Department in a building designed to offer significant environmental benefits while respecting the need to retain the essential character of a Grade II* listed building. The refurbishment has been carried out fully in line with the Greening Government Initiative.
The refurbishment and subsequent delivery of services through the 35 year PFI project term is being delivered by Exchequer Partnership Plc (EP), a consortium of commercial property developers, construction managers and high quality service providers formed for the project.
The 1HGR project was developed in the early 1990s as practical difficulties with building services became an increasing obstacle to delivering an efficient, effective service to Ministers, Parliament and the public. The need to bring mechanical, electrical, IT and other services up to date was seen as a unique opportunity to add significant additional value through more efficient use of space to reflect modern working practices and requirements.
Plans were developed to address the wasted opportunities in the existing building, with its many corridors, lightwells, staircases and unproductive space. These have now been put to use as flexible, modern office space offering a more open and collaborative way of working to increase business efficiency.
The PFI project agreed with EP in May 2000 was designed to deliver these benefits with the minimum disruption of Treasury business, without requiring staff to move out of the building while the work was undertaken, and to offer high quality building maintenance and support services under a long term value for money deal.
The refurbishment has produced an extra 25 per cent of useable space and provided more flexible and open working conditions. 1HGR now provides fully serviced facilities for around 1200 Treasury and contract management staff in space formerly occupied by around 850, which will meet foreseeable Treasury requirements.
This is the first PFI project to use the Treasury Task Force’s Standard Terms and Conditions contract that helped the public sector get greater value for money from the PFI process and significantly reduced bid costs. The Treasury and EP also developed an innovative competitive approach to securing funding, which an NAO report estimates will save the taxpayer about £13 million over the term of the project.
Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS): A history
Since 1940, the Treasury has been based in the building known as Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS) in Whitehall. Over the years, the department has moved several times but, since the Royal Treasure was moved from Winchester following the Norman Conquest, has always been based around Whitehall.
Until the Restoration in 1660, the Treasury operated from the Exchequer Receipt Office in Westminster Cloisters. On ascending to the throne Charles II (perhaps wanting to keep a close eye on his finances) allocated it rooms in Whitehall Palace. Whitehall Palace, originally built in 1529 by Henry VIII, consisted of a number of timber-framed buildings grouped around formal gardens. In 1698 a huge blaze - caused by a servant airing some linen too close to the fire – destroyed all but the Banqueting House (built by Inigo Jones for Charles I) which still stands on Whitehall today; and Cardinal Wolsey’s wine cellar which is now under the Ministry of Defence building.
Following the fire, the homeless Treasury moved to Henry VIII’s Cockpit (near today’s Horse Guards parade) – cock fighting had ceased there under the Tudors but the building was used as a theatre and as chambers for members of the Royal Household.
In 1734 a new Treasury was built by William Kent, which still stands on Horse Guards today. The Treasury continued to occupy this building, and expanded also into a new Treasury building designed by John Soane, until both buildings were severely damaged by bombs in 1940.
Since then, GOGGS has been the department’s headquarters, housing around 700 staff and Ministers, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The building of GOGGS
GOGGS was designed and built between 1898 and 1917. It stands on the site of a number of narrow old streets cleared to make way for the building. Construction was in two phases. The Parliament Street (Whitehall) end was built first, completed in 1908. The aim was to build light, open-plan offices so offices were built around the perimeter walls of the building and around three large courtyards, while corridors were placed beside light-wells. In phase 2, the St James’ Park end, built between 1910 and 1917, an entrance on to the Park was added and to maximize the use of floor space offices were ranged either side of dark internal corridors – the opposite of what had been intended.
The building is an island site bounded by Parliament Street, Great George Street, Horse Guards Road and King Charles Street. The principal architect was John Brydon, who was selected by the Minister of Works after a competition. Brydon’s early works include the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Memorial Hospital, Chelsea Town Hall, the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath and an extension to the Bath Pump Room. In Bath Brydon made use of the local stone – a feature he repeated in GOGGS, cladding it in Portland stone. The large circular court in the middle of the building is derived from Inigo Jones’ design for a new Whitehall Palace (never built) and is a very distinctive piece of architecture. Brydon died before completion of the project and Sir Henry Tanner, the Government’s Chief Architect of Works, took over. The architectural merit of the building was compromised by this change: in 1910 the Architectural Review said: “…the intrusion of another hand less inspired than the original designer is plainly evident.” But the building has some architectural merit – it’s now Grade II listed. Other notable features of the building are the central courtyard, the main conference room overlooking Whitehall and the Chancellor’s old office.
GOGGS was originally called the New Public Offices, as opposed to the Old Public Offices – now the Foreign Office - next door. It was home to the Board of Education, the Local Government Board and the local Ministry of Works Office. Local people queued along the ground floor corridor for inoculations at the Public Health Office. The building has housed a number of departments besides the Treasury, including parts of the Foreign Office, the Northern Ireland Office, the National Investment and Loans Office and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.
The Cabinet War Rooms
In the build-up to the 2nd World War, the government began looking for a strong basement in which a map room and a Cabinet Room could be constructed without major alterations. The basement of GOGGS was chosen, not only because it was convenient for Downing Street, but because the concrete frame used in phase 2 would help prevent the collapse of the building should it receive a direct hit from a bomb. Initially, only a few rooms were commandeered but when Horse Guards was bombed on October 14, 1940, wrecking parts of 10 Downing Street, all Churchill’s staff moved into GOGGS. Within months, the departments in the basement included the Air Ministry and their main War Room. The Joint Intelligence Chiefs occupied rooms in the basement, as did the people responsible for the D-Day Landings and associated deception plans and the Air Ministry Photographic Department. To protect the basement, a thick bomb-proof concrete slab was constructed within the rooms at sub-ground floor level, a large torpedo net was slung across the western courtyard to catch falling bombs. Air was filtered through a series of vents and ducts to guard against poison gases.