50 Queen Anne's Gate

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50 Queen Anne's Gate

50 Queen Anne's Gate is an office block in Westminster, London, overlooking St James's Park, which was the main location for the UK Home Office department between 1978 and 2004. The building is 56 m (184 ft) high, with 14 floors providing 51,000 m² (550,000 sq ft) of office space.

The site was previously occupied by the enormous 14-storey mansion block Queen Anne's Mansions which were despised by many architectural commentators, and their demolition was regarded as highly desirable. However the new building, designed by Sir Basil Spence, which was completed in 1976, was not favourably regarded architecturally either, except by enthusiasts of Brutalism. Fodor's guide to London described it as "hulking", and Lord St John of Fawsley remarked that "Basil Spence's barracks in Hyde Park ruined that park; in fact, he has the distinction of having ruined two parks, because of his Home Office building, which towers above St James's Park."

The building was originally built as speculative office development but the Home Office moved in due to the lack of space in their previous headquarters in Whitehall. In 2004 the Home Office moved to a new purpose-built building at 2 Marsham Street designed by Terry Farrell. The Queen Anne's Gate building, now owned by Land Securities, is undergoing a refurbishment as of 2005 and from 2007 will be home to the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

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