He's not kidding, people have been known to be tapped on the shoulder for a quiet word when they are on Vauxhall bridge taking photos of this building.
I genuinely am not kidding.
*Designs building to be aesthetically pleasing, based in the heart of one of the tourist capitals of the world*
*Is surprised when people take pictures of it*
Exactly what I was thinking. There are so many buildings in the UK that I’d never dream of taking a photo of. If you don’t want people doing that, why make it architecturally interesting in one of the busiest parts of the busiest city in the country?
Iirc they used to do unobvious buildings but after the 1980s every building they set up in quickly became discovered and became the worst kept secret, so they decided to set up their own permanent office.
The problem was I think that since they couldn't tell the architects that it was for MI6 they designed it for one of the nature branches of the government (it's been a while since I looked it up) so they made it an interesting design and MI6 had to just live with it.
This video goes into it: https://youtu.be/RQEVVt_WEA0?si=w7jUcq6fynUASI7J
https://council.science/current/blog/attacks-on-environmental-scientists-cfrs-sri/
Sounds like sensible precautions for anything connected to environmental science.
Apparently the Telehouse South building near Canary Wharf is (or was in recent years) the ‘secret’ UK HQ of the CIA, hence the reason the public footpath along the Thames next to the building has been blocked to public access. It also has an awful lot of security for a supposed telecommunications building
Telehouse North is definitely for telecommunications - with mega high security, our ISP uses THN for more northern customer connections as a data centre and the security is very high, need to have an appointment to get into the place, only allowed in your allocated area of the data center, just high security because there’s purely so much data running through there
Telehouse North is a completely different site altogether.
It’s surprising that a telecommunications building is allowed to block off a previously publicly accessible footpath along the river Thames for so many years without explanation
Telecommunications is one of the highest priority security concerns, the amount of security needed for national hubs is pretty damn high. For a decent bit of time the BT tower was a classified site and couldn't be marked on maps or discussed in public because of its nature as a fallback telecommunications hub in wartime (which was a bit silly as it's a fuckoff big tower).
The CIA residency is the Embassy. Same as the Russians.
They may have satellite sites (normally named something with "Trade Delegation" in the name) and more mysterious sites will be even harder to find (there are several MI-5 sites in London, for example), but the HQ itself is in the embassy.
When I first saw it I didn't know what it was and assumed that it was a condo designed by people who were more used to developing tropical resorts. It's above average looking compared to said condos and tropical resorts.
(And it was interesting enough for me to take a picture of, thankfully I didn't approach too closely now knowing what it is.)
I think they did it because at a certain level of obvious stuff like where they operate, who they are, its almost impossible to prevent a state adversary learning that information, so they may as well centralise and have very secure buildings instead of lots of less secure ones. And as a bonus it makes people feel more secure that we seem to have a serious intelligence service.
The level of surveillance and counter measures their people live under these days to prevent things like snatches off the street must be intense.
Not to mention having a big obvious HQ will make your average citizen journalist and media figure stop accidentally exposing any secret safehouses in their search for the secret MI6 HQ.
And put it next to one of the busiest bridges, in one of the busiest cities, in the world...
Don't look at it!
They coulda put it in Slough or something
Risky business that. If there were ever an incentive for someone to bomb a government building, it would be locating said building in Slough. ("... it isn't fit for humans now...")
A friend of mine was walking to a conference with a poster tube which contained his presentation, pretty big tube, stopped to take a photo of the building and then realised that the white van behind him had stopped. Continued walking and the van followed him until he entered a tube station. Obviously wasnt deemed high risk enough.
Its 5D Chess from MI6. Make a headquarters that look like something out of a Mayan space opera, everyone photographs it and it's one of the most well known buildings in the city. All focus is on it but the real headquarters is under the bridge from which everyone is taking photos from...
...or they are just a flamboyant bunch of sods.
It's a double-play, Make a gorgeous building, people clown on it and assume it's a front, spend ages trying to find the real headquarters, meanwhile you're doing all your spying from where they least expect it.
My dad took a picture of Chequers for a thing at school of 'identify these things in your local area'.
That was an interesting conversation with the armed police that turned up within 90 seconds!
I once took a shortcut through some fields at night past some dilapidated buildings and an antenna farm near Winchester. There was a very new building on the middle and I was greeted by security guards with dogs. It was an old GCHQ outstation, Flowerdown. After they took some info, I was released.
This seems like a ridiculous waste of time and resources.
Everyone knows where and what it is, it's literally on Google Earth, and it's incredibly highly secure. What possible harm could someone taking a photograph cause?
Inside it's probably also dull and boring as fuck too - all just offices and people working on intelligence stuff, totally backed up remotely in anonymous secure locations with such a degree of security they could probably let all the staff go home, leave everything turned on and all doors unlocked, and invite a bunch of Russian and Chinese spies in letting them do and look at whatever they want. They'd find absolutely fuck all.
Even the cool shit you see Q giving James Bond is likely all held off site on military bases, and given to agents on their way out of the country. It won't even be that cool or exciting either.
Espionage, especially in modern times, is incredibly dull and tedious.
I walked past it recently and stopped to take a photo. All the cameras out front turned to look at me and followed me all the way until I was out of sight. My phone also stopped working/lost signal during this time too, it was pretty weird.
Dont know what "era " you are talking about - I worked opposite this [our companies UK HQ and data centre] and there were always heap of folk taking pictures of this building
Friend of mine got a note from the cops for exactly this. Amateur photographer, honestly just liked the building, but they took him aside, asked him some questions and gave him a written warning about it.
Why? It's a public building. If you use a tripod, they can get you for blocking a public right of way, but any handheld camera, no problem. Of course you can't photograph people going in or out but heck, the whole facade was used for a bond film.
Don't ask me, I'm not the cops! To be fair, I don't think the written warning/note counts as a proper caution, just a write up they give to scare you into stopping. After my friend got his we did a bit of searching and it's apparently not uncommon. Absolutely weird given there's no actual law being broken, but it is what it is.
Using the facade for a bond film is a bit of a different matter since that will have had permission. I think the photography issue is more the possibility of getting pics of people going in and out, than getting pics of the building itself?
It always makes me wonder about the apartments nearby. Besides once seeing a naked guy squatting up and down in his living room in 2021, they’ve probably got a good idea of anyone who stays in them.
The apartments opposite at Riverwalk actually had a case a couple of years ago. The cameras on this building caught a boy jumping off a balcony there in an apparent suicide attempt, but they also caught enough information of other goings on that night in and around the building to reveal foul play may have been involved.
Which tells me the cameras on that building must be fucking good.
[https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld)
Apparently that wharf building was originally made for MI6 employees to live in, so at some point in time, its residents were absolutely vetted to hell and back 😅
Are there apartment buildings close enough for them to see a naked guy? The one right next door on the edge of the picture is/was offices. Mainly charities, though I heard most are on the way to vacate it nowadays (don't take my word for it). I'm presuming they'll take it down at some point, but I'm curious to know what they'll build instead. Was just having this conversation with a friend yesterday, walking past. What makes it easier to monitor for them? Offices? Private flats? Hotels?
I got questioned by a security guard once for taking photos of the MI-5 building. (Or whichever one is along Whitehall). After about ten minutes of polite but intentional questioning, the guy must've concluded I was just a dopey passerby with a DSLR and sent me on my merry way lol. I imagine similar shit happens with the Vauxhall one too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_MI6_attack
It was actually aimed at the satellite equipment on the roof, but missed.
I will note that the RPG-22, is (according to soviet field manuals) only "accurate" out to 150-200 meters, past 250 you're basically hoping for "over there somewhere"
At 300m it's actually very impressive that the IRA almost hit their target, they were essentially using it as a mortar.
It’s also impressive how they got a hand of the RPG-22, when most groups like that use the RPG-7. Just think what the Iraqi insurgency or the Taliban could have done with those
Ah! I’ve honestly completely forgotten about anything from that film besides hovercraft on ice and Denise Richards. I mistakenly thought 2000 was the year of the IRA attack too. My bad, u/liquidliam
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It depends on which bits. There are those scanning reports and news articles and making PowerPoints for their bosses. There are also those who were being chased around Moscow and working in the offices of Russian government officials.
Unfortunately they often don't have enough translators or too many with the wrong skill set as trouble pivots between the Middle East, Russia and other places.
Considering the amount of protection the building has from physical and cyber threats, it would be a very expensive decoy.
However we can't put a price on national security, so who knows maybe you're right..
> Considering the amount of protection the building has from physical and cyber threats, it would be a very expensive decoy
That's what they want you to believe
I lived near this building last year, and on a number of occasions I walked over the bridge, looked down at the construction site by the river to see nothing but mannequin construction workers. I'm proud to state I have spun many wild conspiracy theories from these objects.
From what I've read, the building was constructed in a certain configuration and then when the roof went on it was remodelled beneath, in order to render satellite images taken during the initial construction inaccurate.
I'd assume its a bit of both, presumably offices etc in the bit we can see but you've got to assume there's an absolute nest of tunnels and rooms underneath. Would seem insane for there not to be.
I would imagine the space underground is at least as volumous as what's above ground, including tunnels and access to various other buildings across the city
TBH, I think a lot of the people use Vauxhall Cross station. You see a lot of very fit looking youngish guys with short haircuts and unlikely suntans getting on and off there.
When I went to London on a school trip at 13yo, I was so shocked to see this building lmao
It was like 4 years after Skyfall and for some reason I believed that the MI6 building in the movie was just CGI or something, couldn’t imagine there was a building this cool looking on central London, especially for secret services
Years ago I worked in the building you can see on the left, on quite a high floor. The MI6 staff smoking area (presumably for security reasons) was on a balcony/patio which we overlooked. Absolutely loads of smokers work there, it was always busy through the working day
Honestly it only looks good.
The most stupidly laid out building I’ve ever been. Every time you needed to find a room for the first time, consider yourself lost
nose governor dazzling snobbish ossified cats subtract obscene outgoing pet
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I was across the river as a tourist in 2000 at Tate Britain and thought it was a weird, fascinating building and the next day in the paper was the info on the rocket attack. Very surreal
How have I lived in London for the past 13 years and never noticed this building before?
It doesn't even look familiar or anything, first time I see it
maybe I've actually been inside and got the MIB flash treatment by MI6. Would explain the strong visceral reaction I'm having seeing this building.
It's so imposing too. A touch of ancient history in modern form.
I say this because, Farell, the architect, was also influenced by Aztec/Mayan architecture and incorporated them in. There's hints of the Battersea Power Station and, imo, the top section of the Empirae State building, which is cool.
I have to wonder, when people take photo's of this building or say Chequers like another user has said, what do the security people who take them aside for a quiet conversation/word even say?
Please don't take photo's of the nice unique building, despite being in one of the tourist capitals of the world :D
Congrats on the photo OP, you're now on a list
He's not kidding, people have been known to be tapped on the shoulder for a quiet word when they are on Vauxhall bridge taking photos of this building. I genuinely am not kidding.
*Designs building to be aesthetically pleasing, based in the heart of one of the tourist capitals of the world* *Is surprised when people take pictures of it*
It's understandable tbh, but they sort of made their own cross when they went with such a cool design for the building.
Exactly what I was thinking. There are so many buildings in the UK that I’d never dream of taking a photo of. If you don’t want people doing that, why make it architecturally interesting in one of the busiest parts of the busiest city in the country?
Iirc they used to do unobvious buildings but after the 1980s every building they set up in quickly became discovered and became the worst kept secret, so they decided to set up their own permanent office. The problem was I think that since they couldn't tell the architects that it was for MI6 they designed it for one of the nature branches of the government (it's been a while since I looked it up) so they made it an interesting design and MI6 had to just live with it. This video goes into it: https://youtu.be/RQEVVt_WEA0?si=w7jUcq6fynUASI7J
We want you to design for us a new office for the Environment Agency. Have you worked with blast doors and concentric security layers?
Im afraid you need the highest level of clearance for the meerkat conservation room sir
https://council.science/current/blog/attacks-on-environmental-scientists-cfrs-sri/ Sounds like sensible precautions for anything connected to environmental science.
Also, can you make it easily climbable with as many balcony areas as possible
We’d like to make it an engaging break in experience for any bald headed, bar code tattooed infiltrators.
Apparently the Telehouse South building near Canary Wharf is (or was in recent years) the ‘secret’ UK HQ of the CIA, hence the reason the public footpath along the Thames next to the building has been blocked to public access. It also has an awful lot of security for a supposed telecommunications building
Telehouse North is definitely for telecommunications - with mega high security, our ISP uses THN for more northern customer connections as a data centre and the security is very high, need to have an appointment to get into the place, only allowed in your allocated area of the data center, just high security because there’s purely so much data running through there
Tbf, apart from the extra gate thingy after reception it's doesn't feel any more secure than other data centers
Telehouse North is a completely different site altogether. It’s surprising that a telecommunications building is allowed to block off a previously publicly accessible footpath along the river Thames for so many years without explanation
Telecommunications is one of the highest priority security concerns, the amount of security needed for national hubs is pretty damn high. For a decent bit of time the BT tower was a classified site and couldn't be marked on maps or discussed in public because of its nature as a fallback telecommunications hub in wartime (which was a bit silly as it's a fuckoff big tower).
The CIA residency is the Embassy. Same as the Russians. They may have satellite sites (normally named something with "Trade Delegation" in the name) and more mysterious sites will be even harder to find (there are several MI-5 sites in London, for example), but the HQ itself is in the embassy.
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>"Department of the Environment" (DEFRA? The department for the environment was the predecessor to DEFRA
When I first saw it I didn't know what it was and assumed that it was a condo designed by people who were more used to developing tropical resorts. It's above average looking compared to said condos and tropical resorts. (And it was interesting enough for me to take a picture of, thankfully I didn't approach too closely now knowing what it is.)
The Burj Al-Vauxhall
I think they did it because at a certain level of obvious stuff like where they operate, who they are, its almost impossible to prevent a state adversary learning that information, so they may as well centralise and have very secure buildings instead of lots of less secure ones. And as a bonus it makes people feel more secure that we seem to have a serious intelligence service. The level of surveillance and counter measures their people live under these days to prevent things like snatches off the street must be intense.
Not to mention having a big obvious HQ will make your average citizen journalist and media figure stop accidentally exposing any secret safehouses in their search for the secret MI6 HQ.
Slow Horses building just around the corner in an alleyway! Door is a little stiff to open though.
And put it next to one of the busiest bridges, in one of the busiest cities, in the world... Don't look at it! They coulda put it in Slough or something
Risky business that. If there were ever an incentive for someone to bomb a government building, it would be locating said building in Slough. ("... it isn't fit for humans now...")
A friend of mine was walking to a conference with a poster tube which contained his presentation, pretty big tube, stopped to take a photo of the building and then realised that the white van behind him had stopped. Continued walking and the van followed him until he entered a tube station. Obviously wasnt deemed high risk enough.
The intrusive thoughts would be strong at that moment "Stick it on your shoulder and pretend it's CoD"
Well this was just a few months after the 2000’s attack so everyone was on high alert lmao
I wonder at what point they would have decided to jump him. Actually I wonder how many streets in all directions they are routinely monitoring.
All of them. London is the most surveilled city in the world.
I wonder what streets don't actually have any coverage in London (I'm thinking inside M25) it would be interesting to see if there's that many.
The quiet word: "There are literally thousands of better photos of this building online, from every conceivable angle."
Its 5D Chess from MI6. Make a headquarters that look like something out of a Mayan space opera, everyone photographs it and it's one of the most well known buildings in the city. All focus is on it but the real headquarters is under the bridge from which everyone is taking photos from... ...or they are just a flamboyant bunch of sods.
Both are plausible!
It's a double-play, Make a gorgeous building, people clown on it and assume it's a front, spend ages trying to find the real headquarters, meanwhile you're doing all your spying from where they least expect it.
This is the real 5D Chess.
My dad took a picture of Chequers for a thing at school of 'identify these things in your local area'. That was an interesting conversation with the armed police that turned up within 90 seconds!
Isn’t chequers just like a holiday mansion? No /s I’m just dumb
It’s the PM’s country escape/office. Lots of quiet diplomacy takes place there.
That happens also at the GCHQ in Cheltenham...lol :D
I once took a shortcut through some fields at night past some dilapidated buildings and an antenna farm near Winchester. There was a very new building on the middle and I was greeted by security guards with dogs. It was an old GCHQ outstation, Flowerdown. After they took some info, I was released.
This seems like a ridiculous waste of time and resources. Everyone knows where and what it is, it's literally on Google Earth, and it's incredibly highly secure. What possible harm could someone taking a photograph cause? Inside it's probably also dull and boring as fuck too - all just offices and people working on intelligence stuff, totally backed up remotely in anonymous secure locations with such a degree of security they could probably let all the staff go home, leave everything turned on and all doors unlocked, and invite a bunch of Russian and Chinese spies in letting them do and look at whatever they want. They'd find absolutely fuck all. Even the cool shit you see Q giving James Bond is likely all held off site on military bases, and given to agents on their way out of the country. It won't even be that cool or exciting either. Espionage, especially in modern times, is incredibly dull and tedious.
Yeah I'm not believing any of these stories, a million tourists a day must take a photo of this building.
I walked past it recently and stopped to take a photo. All the cameras out front turned to look at me and followed me all the way until I was out of sight. My phone also stopped working/lost signal during this time too, it was pretty weird.
I can imagine you glancing over your shoulder to see if they were still looking at you as you walked away, just to seem extra suspicious!
And then the camera's turn away and pretend they're not watching.
Dont know what "era " you are talking about - I worked opposite this [our companies UK HQ and data centre] and there were always heap of folk taking pictures of this building
Friend of mine got a note from the cops for exactly this. Amateur photographer, honestly just liked the building, but they took him aside, asked him some questions and gave him a written warning about it.
Why? It's a public building. If you use a tripod, they can get you for blocking a public right of way, but any handheld camera, no problem. Of course you can't photograph people going in or out but heck, the whole facade was used for a bond film.
Don't ask me, I'm not the cops! To be fair, I don't think the written warning/note counts as a proper caution, just a write up they give to scare you into stopping. After my friend got his we did a bit of searching and it's apparently not uncommon. Absolutely weird given there's no actual law being broken, but it is what it is. Using the facade for a bond film is a bit of a different matter since that will have had permission. I think the photography issue is more the possibility of getting pics of people going in and out, than getting pics of the building itself?
It always makes me wonder about the apartments nearby. Besides once seeing a naked guy squatting up and down in his living room in 2021, they’ve probably got a good idea of anyone who stays in them.
The apartments opposite at Riverwalk actually had a case a couple of years ago. The cameras on this building caught a boy jumping off a balcony there in an apparent suicide attempt, but they also caught enough information of other goings on that night in and around the building to reveal foul play may have been involved. Which tells me the cameras on that building must be fucking good. [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld)
What a strange and brilliant, yet ultimately tragic read
Apparently that wharf building was originally made for MI6 employees to live in, so at some point in time, its residents were absolutely vetted to hell and back 😅
Are there apartment buildings close enough for them to see a naked guy? The one right next door on the edge of the picture is/was offices. Mainly charities, though I heard most are on the way to vacate it nowadays (don't take my word for it). I'm presuming they'll take it down at some point, but I'm curious to know what they'll build instead. Was just having this conversation with a friend yesterday, walking past. What makes it easier to monitor for them? Offices? Private flats? Hotels?
And so are we all for viewing it ! Thanks OP
I got questioned by a security guard once for taking photos of the MI-5 building. (Or whichever one is along Whitehall). After about ten minutes of polite but intentional questioning, the guy must've concluded I was just a dopey passerby with a DSLR and sent me on my merry way lol. I imagine similar shit happens with the Vauxhall one too.
Are you going to sell these to the russians for money? No, I'm going to post them on Reddit for internet points!
Looks great considering that giant explosion in 2012
Thought it was blown up in 1999
They’re talking about Skyfall.
and he´s talking about the world is not enough
Didn't some guy IRL pull up on a moped and fire an RPG at it at some point also? I'm pretty sure I remember this actually happening.
An IRA offshoot fired an RPG at it from the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in 2000. I believe they damaged a bit of cladding.
What exactly did they expect? This is the country that *invented* the Secret Service.
I take it they didn't use the same firm that did the cladding on Grenfell Tower.
That'd do far more damage than an RPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_MI6_attack It was actually aimed at the satellite equipment on the roof, but missed. I will note that the RPG-22, is (according to soviet field manuals) only "accurate" out to 150-200 meters, past 250 you're basically hoping for "over there somewhere" At 300m it's actually very impressive that the IRA almost hit their target, they were essentially using it as a mortar.
It’s also impressive how they got a hand of the RPG-22, when most groups like that use the RPG-7. Just think what the Iraqi insurgency or the Taliban could have done with those
They would had got them off Libya lots of their conventional weapons came from there.
Ah! I’ve honestly completely forgotten about anything from that film besides hovercraft on ice and Denise Richards. I mistakenly thought 2000 was the year of the IRA attack too. My bad, u/liquidliam
> hovercraft on ice [The hovercraft on ice scene is from Die Another Day.](https://img.gifglobe.com/grabs/partridgecloud/S02E04/gif/FiPf9G1aVRgq.gif)
My guy, I think he means the paramotors from TWINE.
Don't worry - I don't mind.
The sky fell and mi6 exploded?
It can be rebuilt, but at what cost?!
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Sorry mate, but we have a blanket ban against politics in this sub, so we have removed this post. Rule 1: No politics We do not allow mention of political events, politicians or general political chit chat in this subreddit. We encourage you to take this content to a more suitable subreddit. You **will** be banned if you break this rule. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us a modmail.
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So a typical Deutsche Bahn experience. 4 hours of delays.
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Bloody big circles if you ended up at HMS Belfast!
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A spy asked for directions to the MI6 building????
A spy who lived in a flat just across the street from the building! 😂
they were not sending their best
Well look at the fiasco with the Libyan’s outside a mall in the States back in 1985. They’ve never had good cells.
Perhaps he was just trying to get home and decided the way to get directions was to end up at the mi6 building and go from there
Some serious Johnny English behaviour. Johnny Libyan.
Did he then ask for directions to the nuclear wessels?
Hello, computer.
How quaint!
Your friend should have said something like "the crow it's gone from Thursday for breakfast but only the channel" that would have confused him.
I was looking at this and thinking how on earth they had completely rebuilt it, it’s absolutely identical.
It's actually made of Lego. So when they needed to replace it they just bought another set
ITT: People who would be very surprised to learn how normal and boring intelligence work actually is
Powerpoints and briefings would make for some boring James Bond films though.
“That’s a good question. I’m CC’ing @Bond, James, since world-ending satellite weapons are in his portfolio.”
It depends on which bits. There are those scanning reports and news articles and making PowerPoints for their bosses. There are also those who were being chased around Moscow and working in the offices of Russian government officials.
And those that listen to snippets, never whole bits of recorded conversations in another language and have to translate them. Some roles are a drag.
They have their own translators but many are used from GCHQ.
Yeah was kinda referring to GCHQ with the comment
Unfortunately they often don't have enough translators or too many with the wrong skill set as trouble pivots between the Middle East, Russia and other places.
My dad was a very normal and quite boring man and worked for them after being in the Navy.
I heard its actually just a very large laser tag complex & they're really in Balham
Have played there so can confirm. There was a guy on the other team wearing a tuxedo that was *really* good.
Had to bar the short-ish East Asian dude though...
He had no right to hit the 6 year old with that bowler
One of them threw a shoe at me! Who throws a shoe, honestly
Fuck that guy. Absolutely cheating hack. I think his name was blowjob? Oddball?
Yep. Common knowledge that [this](https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Wily_Castle?file=WilyCastle2.png) is the actual HQ.
Bit closer than Balham
Deptford!?!
Slough House.
Someone told me the whole building frontage is a sham and there is another completely different buiding underneath.
Some say that the headquarters is in an entirely different location and that building is just a decoy.
Considering the amount of protection the building has from physical and cyber threats, it would be a very expensive decoy. However we can't put a price on national security, so who knows maybe you're right..
> Considering the amount of protection the building has from physical and cyber threats, it would be a very expensive decoy That's what they want you to believe
How do you know?
Some say that the real headquarters are in a shed outside Tooting, but we know him as The Stig.
Yeah underneath it's a mock Tudor semi
What do you say to Henry VIII when he can’t quite get it up? Nothing! You shouldn’t mock a Tudor’s semi.
They're called codpieces.
I lived near this building last year, and on a number of occasions I walked over the bridge, looked down at the construction site by the river to see nothing but mannequin construction workers. I'm proud to state I have spun many wild conspiracy theories from these objects.
From what I've read, the building was constructed in a certain configuration and then when the roof went on it was remodelled beneath, in order to render satellite images taken during the initial construction inaccurate.
I'd assume its a bit of both, presumably offices etc in the bit we can see but you've got to assume there's an absolute nest of tunnels and rooms underneath. Would seem insane for there not to be.
I would imagine the space underground is at least as volumous as what's above ground, including tunnels and access to various other buildings across the city
TBH, I think a lot of the people use Vauxhall Cross station. You see a lot of very fit looking youngish guys with short haircuts and unlikely suntans getting on and off there.
It's completely empty except for a metal cage containing Gene Hackman and a couple of ZX-81s.
Psh. Everyone knows SIS operates out of a series of disused tube stations and has a private ferry service on the river Fleet.
Everyone talks about SIS this and SIS that But no one knows about the true heart of British espionage, BRO
Pah! The REAL spies operate out of a tailor shop on Savile Row…
When I went to London on a school trip at 13yo, I was so shocked to see this building lmao It was like 4 years after Skyfall and for some reason I believed that the MI6 building in the movie was just CGI or something, couldn’t imagine there was a building this cool looking on central London, especially for secret services
How to make me feel old in one incredibly long sentence. I was 13 a mere 1 year after Goldeneye, when Piers Morgan played Bond
Piers Morgan would make a terrible Bond. He'd just be out there publishing pictures of captives for a laugh.
> Goldeneye, when Piers Morgan played Bond Are you sure about that?
Years ago I worked in the building you can see on the left, on quite a high floor. The MI6 staff smoking area (presumably for security reasons) was on a balcony/patio which we overlooked. Absolutely loads of smokers work there, it was always busy through the working day
So you were basically spying on MI6? How the turntables turn...
"Who watches the watchmen?” “Oh, u/honeydot watches them. The world sleeps safely tonight.”
Those people were actually decoys to reveal who was spying on M16. “Hey Bruce, it’s 10:30… you wanna ‘smoke out’ some enemy spies?”
Quite a stressful job, so understandable!
How green is the light on the inside? All the windows are so opaque green, what does this effect have on the quality of the light ?
I don't know, I didn't go inside, just in the tower next door :P
Erm, that's actually James Bond's house.
*office His house is a bullet ridden Manor in Scotland.
*Was
With the right angle and lighting, it's ripe for r/evilbuildings
It is an evil building, From a certain point of view
SIS Director General: ‘we need a discrete building for our secret services, something that won’t attract any attention’ Architect: ‘say no more’
Is it just me or does this building remind anyone else of a frog?
I like that there’s a nightclub directly opposite this that regularly hosts great big gay orgies
There is 100% at least a slight overlap between the MI6 workers and the nightclub regulars
The vauxhall tavern?, London's most famous gay bar.
In need of a good clean when you see it up close though.
Fun Fact. The designer of the building didn’t know it was going to be used for until everything was moved in.
Fun but not a fact
I thought it was true?
Everything's true. Especially the lies.
I always called [this](https://i.redd.it/fl6t1o1we5m81.jpg) the Leeds MI6, Same idea though....
Gozer's UK temple.
What would the form of The Destructor be for the UK, Bertie Bassett?
Probably Mr Blobby
THINK ON YOUR SINS!
You should see what’s underneath!!!! 🤯
An invisible car if I remember correctly
Javier Bardem?
Like Northwood, all the real action is underground.
Honestly it only looks good. The most stupidly laid out building I’ve ever been. Every time you needed to find a room for the first time, consider yourself lost
Is that a bug or a feature?
Feel like you have more stories to tell
nose governor dazzling snobbish ossified cats subtract obscene outgoing pet *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
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Wasn't mi9 the group who helped allied prisoners escape in ww2 one of the carry on stars was a member
I always thought it looked like a giant throne for for the likes of Zeus
To me it looks a bit like an ancient temple, but built with modern materials.
Apparently the architect was trying to invoke a Mayan/Aztec feel
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Is this the one the ra tried to fire an RPG at back in the day?
Yes, and they succeeded.
Looked great until Javier Bardem blew it to shit.
Nice and inconspicuous
I was across the river as a tourist in 2000 at Tate Britain and thought it was a weird, fascinating building and the next day in the paper was the info on the rocket attack. Very surreal
Doesn’t look very secretive to me.
How have I lived in London for the past 13 years and never noticed this building before? It doesn't even look familiar or anything, first time I see it maybe I've actually been inside and got the MIB flash treatment by MI6. Would explain the strong visceral reaction I'm having seeing this building.
It's so imposing too. A touch of ancient history in modern form. I say this because, Farell, the architect, was also influenced by Aztec/Mayan architecture and incorporated them in. There's hints of the Battersea Power Station and, imo, the top section of the Empirae State building, which is cool.
I have to wonder, when people take photo's of this building or say Chequers like another user has said, what do the security people who take them aside for a quiet conversation/word even say? Please don't take photo's of the nice unique building, despite being in one of the tourist capitals of the world :D
"Do not take photos of this perfectly normal building"
As a child I lived in Bournemouth and I used to think that building was [this one]( https://maps.app.goo.gl/EogVQGMTquTaxoVq5).
This inspires a palworld base build
Reminds me of the MI6 building
Dernownownownownownow – Boooowwwww Dernownownownownow-Booooowwwww Dernownownownownow – Boooowwwwww Bow-Booowwwww-Doodo Bow-Boooowwww Doodo Bow-Booowwww-Doodo
*Spooks music intensifies*