Portcullis House

Portcullis House is a building in London's City of Westminster, in which the offices of Members of the House of Commons are housed. Previously offices in the neighboring Palace of Westminster and other buildings nearby were hard to find, and the Parliament decided in 1992 to build the Portcullis House.

The building is located at Bridge Street between Parliament Square and Westminster Bridge, close to the River Thames. The architects, Michael Hopkins & Partners, published its draft in 1993, and the existing buildings were demolished in 1994. At the same time built an extension of the London Underground Jubilee Line, which made ​​it necessary to complete the underlying subway station Westminster new building. For this reason, both projects were executed together, part of the station serves as the foundation of Portcullis House.

The facade and the roof with the chimneys reminiscent of the Gothic Revival style of the Palace of Westminster. Fireplaces emit no smoke, but are part of a sophisticated air conditioning that does modeled after the Eastgate Centre without further supply of energy and natural convection exploits. The walls and roof were covered with aluminum bronze.

Portcullis House is named after the portcullis (English portcullis ), which was previously shown on the letterhead and all official documents of the Parliament. The building provides space for only one-third of all deputies. Other offices are located in the neighboring Norman Shaw Building ( until 1967 the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police ), at the Parliament Street, on the Millbank - street, and occasionally also in the Palace of Westminster.