New Palace Place, an Overview

Developed in 2005 by Galliard Homes, New Palace Place is situated directly behind the Government’s award-winning Home Office building.

Comprising just over 100; one, two and three-bedroom apartments, New Palace Place offers modern contemporary living in the heart of Westminster’s Political Hub.

Attracting affluent professionals, the development appeals to owner-occupiers or long term tenants seeking a central London apartment giving ease of access to all areas of London, cutting down on commuting times and having the advantage of being in one of London’s most covetable postal districts. The SW1 prefix is shared with some of the most prestigious addresses in London; including 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.

A History of New Palace Place

New Palace Place sits on what is essentially a very quiet, unassuming street providing a surprisingly peaceful residential enclave. Yet on its doorstep sits London’s pulsating political district and one only has to venture to either end of the street to be immersed in the sprawling metropolis that is London Town.

The site of New Palace Place also has an interesting history which the smooth, contemporary clad development hides deep under its foundations.

Up until 1940, the land between Monck Street and Marsham Street housed the ‘Gas Light & Coke Company’ which was nationalised in May 1949 to become the North Thames Gas Board. Research is a little confused as some sources imply that the Gas board remained on the site until after the war but government records differ. Government records suggest that the site was already cleared before the war and so when it was bombed in 1937 the gasworks were already in disuse however other statements suggest it was the bombing that blew the gas works up!

Either way, it left two gaping holes in the middle of Westminster and it was decided that two, ‘bombproof’ rotundas, made of 12 foot thick concrete walls, should be built to house several thousand civil servants walls and to keep them in supplies for up to three months should the need arise.

These two great concrete rotundas remained in use for many years alongside an adjoining five-storey steel frame building. The three structures were a warren of underground passages leading to other government buildings and the remaining documents give evidence to the belief that 10 Downing Street has underground access to the Houses of Parliament and beyond. Original plans showing the layout of Prime Minister Churchill’s private dwelling chambers in the lower levels of the north rotunda, with a series of interconnecting doors from one department to another, could well stand as a template for a Ray Cooney Farce. Though interestingly, the plans distinctly show the separate bedrooms of Mr and Mrs Churchill with no such interconnecting door.

By the 1960’s the buildings were earmarked for demolition but the citadels proved so good at their protective purpose that it was deemed too expensive to excavate the site and instead of three, 20 storey tower blocks were built over the rotundas incorporating them into the use of the new buildings and becoming part of the single largest office development prior to Canary Wharf. Admired and despised in equal measure the three new towers earned the moniker of ‘The Ugly Sisters’ and somewhat ironically were home to the Department of Environment.

As the decades passed the buildings’ usage continued to diminish. Perhaps rather decadently though in the 1990s the rotundas were given a last gasp of breath as the Civil Servants Sports and Recreation Club. Numerous floors were given over to every imaginable sport and recreational facility including; a cricket pitch, boxing ring, rifle range, discotheque, various bars and a screening room and theatre.

It was therefore a much-welcomed – Private Finance Initiative – that saw commercial buildings and Residential buildings become cosy bedfellows, spooning snugly to create a new Home Office building and the New Palace Place development.

Living & Investing In New Palace Place

When New Palace Place was conceived it was heralded as one of the first developments to recognise the rich potential of citing residential homes so central to Britain’s Government Buildings, not just being within the ‘division bell’ but actually part of the parliamentary district itself. The result was that even before foundations were laid, 75% of the apartments in New Palace Place had sold off-plan, both to overseas investors and British purchasers.

Occupants are not necessarily in Politics, though the building does attract a crowd of well-connected lobbyists and well-heeled civil servants. Corporate let’s also prove to be popular, with city workers enjoying the short commuting time. Typically, researchers, analysts and executives appear to make up the majority of the residents in New Palace Place and the range of 1, 2, and 3 bedroom apartments mean that households generally consist of singles, couples and professional sharers.

The development has an air of pared-down simplicity with attractive floor-to-ceiling windows in many of the reception rooms. Selected apartments also benefit from balconies off the reception room and separate, fully-integrated kitchens allowing one to ‘close off life’s detritus’ when relaxing an evening.

New Palace Place & Beyond

Monck Street lies almost equidistant to Victoria, St James’ Park, Westminster and Pimlico Underground Stations. All the key districts of London are easily accessed including; The City and Canary Wharf which are only an approximately 15-minute commute, while Heathrow and City Airport and The Euro Star are also easily reached by train and taxi. More immediately on the doorstep of New Palace Place, a selection of designer shops can be found in Victoria’s Cardinal Place Shopping centre and the new Nova development promises more retail outlets.

Jermyn Street and Bond Street are on the other side of a pleasant walk through St James’ Park, as is, probably the world’s oldest wine shop still in existence, Berry Brothers & Rudd. Lovers of Wine might also enjoy sipping a glass in the relaxed atmosphere of Ebury Street Wine Bar or in The Pembury lounge in Roux at Parliament Square.

The pint of milk test is easily surpassed as a Tesco convenience store is actually part of the development. Equally convenient local businesses consist of; dry cleaners, barbers and a psychosexual therapists. All of which brings us back to the Ray Cooney farce connection, like the Trafalgar Studios and many of the other West End Theatres where Cooney’s biggest success ‘Run for Your Wife’ ran for over nine years can all be found in the immediate vicinity.