A fine mess

Former military buildings sold off as the armed forces modernise can be architectural gold dust to discerning developers, finds

- By Lucy Denton

WE shape our buildings; thereafter our buildings shape us,' declared Winston Churchill in 1943, insisting on the reconstruction of the bomb-damaged Commons Chamber to its 'old form, convenience and dignity'. More than 20 years earlier, as Secretary of State for War, he was ensconced in the Old War Office on Whitehall, a stately edifice completed in 1906, sold off by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2016, and now being revitalised as top-notch apartments, restaurants and Raffles's first flagship hotel in Britain known as The OWO (Property comment, July 21, 2021).

As the armed forces modernise and outmoded property is unloaded from Government estates, what is superfluous to needs often translates as architectural treasure for the discerning developer. But there are many factors to consider, including condition, heritage designations, location, communal services, how recently it was mothballed, former use and existing monuments.

Living in a place with military provenance carries a certain cachet; 20 of the 85 apartments in The OWO, due to be completed in a few months' time, have already sold. 'It's extraordinarily impressive,' says Adam Simmonds of residential development sales at Savills. There's even an old spies' entrance on Whitehall Court.' T. E. Lawrence and Ian Fleming once walked the unusually wide corridors here, designed to accommodate a considerable workforce (which even included messengers on bicycles).