Marsham Towers

The Marsham Towers were three towers at the corner of Marsham Street and Great Peter Street in Westminster, London. They served as the headquarters of the Department of the Environment. The redevelopment of the site was long planned. The site was originally a gas works and had first included two gas holders (built 1875), renovated in World War 2 for use as bomb shelter 'citadels' - the North Rotunda and the South Rotunda. A new 'steel-framed building' was also added in 1940–41. The Rotundas were designed to survive the impact of a 500 lb bomb and had 12-foot-thick (3.7 m) concrete roofs. In 1943 the lowest level of the North Rotunda (codenamed Anson) was kitted out as the reserve to the Cabinet War Rooms. The previous reserve Paddock in...