The Old War Office.

This massive building, primarily in Baroque style with a blend of many other architectural styles, was once the site of Britain’s former War Office. ✨✨ 🎊🎊Prime Minister Winston Churchill worked here from 1919 to 1921 and frequented it during World War II. The renowned author Ian Fleming, who served as an intelligence officer here for a long time, drew inspiration from this place to write the novel James Bond (007), which was later adapted into dozens of films that remain popular to this day—truly a testament to art imitating life.🎁 🌤️🌤️Designed to double as a fortress with defensive functions from the start, the building was constructed using over 25 million bricks and more than 26,000 tons of Portland stone. Its design coincided with Britain’s peak Victorian era, when steel structures were first used in architecture. As a result, the building features extremely thick walls, no large continuous glass windows on its facade, and oversized pillars, load-bearing walls, and beams.🎁 👣These characteristics were later adopted by the Japanese, evident in the Manchukuo-era buildings still seen in Changchun today—even the military-grade concrete used by the Japanese at the time was imported from Europe.⛄ Today, the building has been converted into a luxury hotel and high-end residences. Originally, it had 7 floors with over 1,100 offices and more than 4 kilometers of corridors. In an era without the internet or telephones, quickly relaying messages between offices was a challenge. 🍅🍅 🌟🌟Thus, the corridors were designed to be extremely wide (over 3 meters in many places) to allow people to walk while also enabling bicycle use for document delivery! Constructed over nearly 8 years, it cost £12,000 at the time—the equivalent of over £123 million today. Unlike other British landmarks, the building’s designer came from the lowest ranks of society. His parents, a small merchant and a shoemaker, had little formal education💕💕 🍢🍢Due to poverty, he could not attend university like others. Instead, he started as an apprentice surveyor for government officials, worked while studying, saved money to attend Kensington School in London, and self-taught extensive architectural knowledge, eventually becoming an experienced architect—much like George Stephenson, the inventor of the steam locomotive.🍎 Tragically, like the famous British architect George Gilbert Scott, he passed away shortly after designing his greatest work. 🍵 🌻🌻The project was completed by his son according to his plans. In other words, this self-made architect from humble origins never got to see his work finished before his death. Given that the site is in London’s Whitehall, where British monarchs like Henry VIII once resided, building such a significant structure in this prime location was his greatest honor—and a high recognition of his talent by the aristocracy, surpassing many others.🍀🍀🍀 #UK#Architecture#Baroque#London