One Great George Street

Introduction

One Great George Street, home of the Institution of Civil Engineers, is based in the heart of Westminster, just off Parliament Square. Starting as a venue for the members to relax, meet and have conferences, the venue opened to the public back in 1989. Over the years many famous faces have stepped over the threshold and being so close to the Houses of Parliament, government officials are a regular sight. Recent visitors include Tony Blair, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Michael Schumacher, James Dyson, David Tennant and Princess Michael of Kent.

There are 19 rooms of varying size and style available for everything from meetings to conferences, dinners to receptions and filming to weddings. This Edwardian building successfully mixes traditional with modernity. Each room has been named after civil engineering’s most important contributors and the venue is adorned with original artwork of those key figures. The Institution's art collections include works from Wylie, Lucas and Millais and is the world's largest collection of portraits of engineers. The ceiling of the Great Hall has a magnificent painting that commemorates the work of civil engineers in the First World War.

Building and history

Until 1913 the Institution had occupied numbers 24-26 Great George Street. In the mid 1880's the government proposed re-development of the area around Great George Street to provide more office space for government departments. This meant the eventual demolition of their current premises and lead to a move across the road to numbers 1-7.

The current headquarters was built between 1910 and 1913 and was the result of an architectural competition won by James Miller, RSA (1860-1947). This elegant and historical building has been described as a “monumental neo-classical design” and a “modern rendering of the late Renaissance”. The exterior, foyer and staircase are made of Portland stone and many of the rooms are ornately decorated with French walnut and oak panelling, elegant carved plaster ceilings and elaborate crystal chandeliers.

Between 1987 and 1991 the venue was modernised to make better use of the space with a new theatre added along with another 3 rooms to the lower ground floor and a suite of smaller meeting rooms and business centre in the basement level. This events venue is constantly updating its facilities and over the years the Great Hall has undergone a major restoration project with new PA system installed, induction loops added to the theatres and reception, major refurbishment of ground floor toilets and ceiling restoration in the State rooms. Over summer 2007 new wheelchair lifts are to be installed at the front entrance. The cutting-edge design is economical on space, more aesthetically pleasing and less obtrusive than other lift and ramp options.

Famous events and filming

The building has witnessed many fine moments in history and the marble-walled Great Hall has held state banquets and such landmark events as the 1945 signing of the charter establishing UNESCO. Other events that have happened in the venue:

The Butler Report press conference in July 2004

G7 and Labour manifestos in the 1990’s

Filming:

Bridget Jones Edge of Reason in 2005

Ghandi

Mr Bean in 1997

Hat Trick in 2006

Starter for Ten in 2006

TV Series

Spooks (numerous episodes), Foyles War, In Deep, Between the Lines, Kavanagh QC and Silent Witness

See also (nearest places)

Houses of Parliament

London Eye

Westminster Abbey

HM Treasury

Access

Easily accessible, this London Conference venue is in a very central location by Westminster tube. Westminster tube station is on the Jubilee, Circle and District lines Victoria and Waterloo mainline stations are also only a short tube/taxi journey or about a 15 minute walk.

External links

One Great George Street Official Site

Institution of Civil Engineers

--Swasser 13:53, 27 April 2007 (UTC)