Another "New Scotland Yard" is located in the heart of London, next to Parliament and Downing Street. The massive Art Deco building on the Victoria Embankment was designed by William Curtis Green, originally for the police: it was an additional wing for the guards who did not fit into the intricate brick buildings designed by Norman Shaw (these buildings were also called "New Scotland Yard") … Members of Parliament now use Shaw's facilities next door: in 1967, police moved from there to a massive 20-story modernist structure. However, by 2010 it was outdated both morally and physically. In addition, audits spurred by budget cuts found that the 500 Metropolitan Police-owned buildings are emptying 40% of jobs at any given time, while the property costs £ 200 million a year to operate. Now it is planned to sell up to 200 objects, thereby saving up to 60 million annually. The former headquarters has already been bought by depeloperers from Abu Dhabi: in its place they will build luxury housing and offices.
The Curtis Green Building, named after the original architect, expanded from 8691 to almost 12,000 m2 in a refurbishment project by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (budget of about £ 60 million): by expanding the rear façade, new lobby and entrance pavilion, superstructure of the upper tiers and a series of terraces. However, there are still only 550 jobs, up from 3,500 at the previous headquarters. Therefore, for the most part, tables are not assigned to specific employees, and all things at the end of the day are suggested to be collected and put in a personal locker. Also for work - individual and in groups - there are "bar" tables and chairs, various configurations of upholstered furniture. That is, a police officer can work from a business laptop even from an ordinary city cafe: only access to the Internet is needed, and the security of the transmitted information is guaranteed by the IT department. This approach may seem too radical, but maintaining 14 jobs costs the state like one policeman, and keeping personnel in the same volume, for obvious reasons, remains a priority. In addition, despite the modest size of the building, it is not the only one in the city: it is complemented by nine more main objects, so this “miniaturization” is not a disaster at all.
The most visible part of the renovation was the main entrance: despite the mandatory barriers, it produces the desired sense of accessibility and transparency, the border between it and the adjacent Whitehall Gardens is blurred. So, the public is fully accessible to the mirror reservoir and the eternal flame in memory of the police officers who died in the line of duty; the public space is separated from the office space by a glass entrance pavilion. In the interior, transparent lifts allow you to take a look at all floors. The rooftop pavilion and the surrounding terraces are suitable for various events. The restrained exterior in the spirit of "classicizing" Art Deco enlivens the new rear façade with yellow and red lamellas: the architects copied their shades from the bricks of the surrounding historical buildings. In the interior, a special brightness of color is distinguished by the bathrooms: their range is based on the coloring of police cars of different divisions.
