Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Baynard House, London

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Baynard House, London Baynard House London

Baynard House is a brutalist office block in Queen Victoria Street in the Blackfriars area of London, occupied by BT Group. It was built on the former site of Baynard's Castle. Most of the site under Baynard House is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Baynard House, London Baynard House London

The building was designed by the architect William Holford. It incorporates Holford's ideas on the separation of pedestrians from vehicle traffic, with a first floor level public walkway along Victoria Street that connects to Blackfriars station. The entrance foyer to Baynard House remains off this first floor level. A plaque in the building foyer reads:

Baynard House, London Baynard House Queen Victoria Street Stacey Harris Geograph

"BAYNARD HOUSE handed over on 5th July 1979 to PETER BENTON Esq., Managing Director Telecommunications, Architects: Holford/ PSA; Construction: John Laing"

Baynard House, London Baynard House London

Legislation protecting the views of St Paul's restricted the overall height of the building to just three levels above ground.

Baynard House, London Baynard House London

Baynard House was formerly a telephone exchange, and housed the first operational System X telephone exchange, which went live in 1980. The Faraday Building, one of the first major telephone exchanges in the UK, is nearby.

Baynard House, London httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

From 1982 to 1997, Baynard House housed the BT Museum.

It is the site of an unusual cast aluminium public sculpture by Richard Kindersley, entitled The Seven Ages of Man. The sculpture, consisting of a column made up of sculptural heads resembling a totem pole, was commissioned by Post Office Telecommunications and unveiled in April 1980.

Baynard House, London Baynard House London Wikiwand

As of 2012 it had the largest solar panel area of any building in the City of London and the second largest of a corporate building in the UK.

References

Baynard House, London Wikipedia