View source for Shell Centre

{{Short description|Global headquarters building of Shell plc}}
{{for|the skyscraper in Calgary|Shell Centre (Calgary)}}
{{confusion|Shell Mex House}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Shell Centre
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| image               = Shell Centre, London, UK, June 2004.jpg
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| image_alt           = Shell Centre as seen from the London Eye, before redevelopment of Jubilee Gardens (bottom) and demolition of surrounding buildings
| image_caption       = Shell Centre as seen from<br> the London Eye in 2004
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| location_city       = [[London]]
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| start_date          = 1957
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| completion_date     = 1962
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The '''Shell Centre''' in London is the global headquarters of [[oil major]] [[Shell plc]]. It is located on Belvedere Road in the [[London Borough of Lambeth]]. It is a prominent feature on the [[South Bank]] of the [[River Thames]] near [[County Hall, London|County Hall]], and now forms the backdrop to the [[London Eye]].

The original Shell Centre comprised the tower building and three now-demolished adjoining nine-storey wings (collectively formerly known as the "Upstream Building"). The original development also included the "Downstream Building", which had the same nine-storey slab block form but was separated from the Upstream Building by the railway viaduct between [[Charing Cross railway station|Charing Cross]] and [[Waterloo East railway station|Waterloo East]].

Since 2004/05, a New Year 60-second countdown has been projected onto the Shell Centre at 11:59pm every New Year's Eve 
<ref>{{Cite web |author-link=BBC |date=1 January 2007 |title=London Fireworks on New Year's Day 2007 - New Year Live - BBC One |url=https://youtube.com/G8sPADP2UU0 |access-date=15 April 2023 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author-link=BBC |date=1 January 2010 |title=London Fireworks on New Year's Day 2010 - New Year Live - BBC One |url=https://youtube.com/zdU-YUSzkUI |access-date=15 April 2023 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> as part of the [[Mayor of London]]'s fireworks celebrations centred on the stretch of the Thames in front of the London Eye.

The Downstream Building was disposed of by Shell in the 1990s. It has been heightened by one storey and is now a block of residential apartments known as the Whitehouse Apartments.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Whitehouse Apartments |url=https://www.thewhitehouseapartments.co.uk/ |website=www.thewhitehouseapartments.co.uk}}</ref>

==Site history and layout==
The Shell Centre occupies part of the site cleared for the 1951 [[Festival of Britain]]. The areas closer to the River Thames now include [[Jubilee Gardens, South Bank|Jubilee Gardens]] and the [[South Bank Centre]]. Jubilee Gardens remained undeveloped prior to its laying out as an open space, largely because of a restrictive [[Covenant (law)|covenant]] in favour of Shell that restricts any building on the part of the site directly between the Shell Tower and the River Thames.

The naming of the Shell Centre buildings perpetuated the split of the Festival site into distinct Upstream and Downstream areas, separated by the railway viaduct approach to [[Hungerford Bridge]].

During construction, parts of abandoned works for the [[Waterloo and Whitehall Railway]] were discovered. This was a prototype for a proposed [[pneumatics|pneumatic]] railway that would have run under the River Thames linking [[London Waterloo railway station|Waterloo]] and [[Charing Cross railway station|Charing Cross]]. Digging was started in 1865, but was stopped in 1868, due to financial problems.

Visible in the Thames at low tide just in line with the tower as water turbulence at one point a few feet into the river bed is the outflow point of the Shell Centre's air conditioning system, which sucks in river water from just outside [[County Hall]] and sends it via a pipe within a bolt iron tunnel (built exactly like a tube railway tunnel), to a point convergent with the outfall, beyond which both the intake pipe and the outflow pipes continue under the embankment and [[Jubilee Gardens, Lambeth|Jubilee Gardens]] to the basement of the tower.

From here the water is sent through filters and heat exchangers to provide cooled air in the building. The pipes had to be specially supported on adjustable jacks, during excavation work for the extension of the [[Jubilee line]] in 1995, because of settlement during the driving of an access tunnel out from Jubilee Gardens, to the main running lines in York Road via Chicheley Street.

==Architecture and design==
[[Image:London-shell-centre-plaque.JPG|thumb|left|150px|A plaque in the lobby of Shell Centre]]
The choice of Portland Stone cladding, and bronze framed individual upright windows were denounced by [[Modern Movement]] critics, and the centre's buildings have generally been regarded as dull. However, the extremely traditional cladding has meant that the buildings have weathered better than most of their contemporaries with concrete or aggregate faced façades or curtain wall glazing.

The original interiors were luxuriously appointed, and as well as contributions from a British design team (many of whom had worked on the Festival of Britain), they included work by [[Ernesto Nathan Rogers]] who had worked on the [[Torre Velasca]] in [[Milan]]. Facilities for staff were lavish by the standards of the time, and the basement of the building was designed with a full size swimming pool and a spacious gymnasium.

The basement also originally housed a rifle range, snooker room, a small supermarket for staff and a host of other facilities. Until 1998, there was also a fully equipped theatre (designed by [[Cecil Beaton]]) which – unusually for a space dedicated to amateur productions – had full [[fly tower]] facilities.<ref>[http://www.apvk33.dsl.pipex.com/lenshist.shtml The End of The Lensbury Theatre Group] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604090235/http://www.apvk33.dsl.pipex.com/lenshist.shtml |date=4 June 2007 }}</ref>

The courtyard of the Upstream Building included two notable sculptures:
* "Torsion Fountain" (also known as The Shell Fountain) by [[Franta Belsky]] is a tall bronze column of shell like forms, which once poured water into one another; and
* "Motorcyclist" by [[Siegfried Charoux]] – a larger than life figure of a rider astride his machine.

The public realm of the Upstream Building was steadily degraded over the years, with the generous space between the columns of the entrance from York Road enclosed to enlarge the foyers. [[Tactile paving|Textured paving]] in contrasting colours was installed to assist partially sighted pedestrians navigate the complex steps and ramps of the site, but also served to deter [[Homelessness|rough sleepers]] and [[skateboarding|skateboarders]].

==Construction==
The Shell Centre was constructed by [[Sir Robert McAlpine]] between 1957 and 1962,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sir-robert-mcalpine.com/files/page/200/SRMBrochure2010_web1.pdf|title=A portrait of achievement|publisher=Sir Robert McAlpine|access-date=24 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508151434/http://www.sir-robert-mcalpine.com/files/page/200/SRMBrochure2010_web1.pdf|archive-date=8 May 2016}}</ref> to a design by Sir [[Howard Robertson (architect)|Howard Robertson]], and the tower stands at {{convert|107|m|ft|0}} with 27 storeys (26 numbered and a [[Mezzanine (architecture)|mezzanine]] level) and extends three storeys below ground. The tower was the first London office tower to exceed the height of the [[Victoria Tower]] of the [[Palace of Westminster]].<ref>{{cite web |author=The Committee Office, House of Commons |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmtlgr/482/48226.htm |title=Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee Report Tall Buildings (2002) HC 482-II Annex B to Memorandum from DTLR |publisher=Parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk |date=22 January 2002|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909094856/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmtlgr/482/48226.htm |archive-date=9 September 2013  }}</ref>

It replaced the [[St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel|Midland Grand Hotel]] as the [[List of tallest buildings and structures in London|tallest storied building in London]], and the [[Royal Liver Building]] as the [[List of tallest buildings in the United Kingdom#Timeline of tallest buildings|tallest in the United Kingdom]]. On completion the building also held the record for the largest office building, by floor space, in Europe.<ref>Christopher Winn, ''I never knew that about London'' (Ted Smart 2007) pg227.</ref>

==Functions and occupation of the buildings==
[[File:Shell centre shells Feb 23.jpg|thumb|150px|Shells at Southbank Place]]
In addition to being the headquarters for the group, it also acts as the main offices of the following Shell businesses; refining and marketing, along with a number of functional support activities such as finance and human resources. The Shell Centre is also the head office of Shell's United Kingdom business (Shell UK Ltd.), which was formerly located in [[Shell Mex House]].

==Redevelopment of the Upstream Building==
In 2004, a planning application was approved to convert the lower floors of the Upstream Building courtyard and the former staff cafeteria into a shopping centre, and to construct a contrasting new glazed office building on the '''Podium Site''' to the south, which was then a paved open space above underground car parking.  

In July 2011, Shell announced that a joint venture of [[Canary Wharf Group]] and [[Qatari Diar]] had bought a virtual freehold (a 999-year lease) on the Shell Centre for £300m, and would redevelop the site. The tower was to be left in place, but the rest of the site was replaced by a new scheme of offices, shops and restaurants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14327994 |title=Shell Centre on South Bank to have £300m redevelopment |publisher=BBC News |date=28 July 2011 }}</ref> The new development is called [http://www.southbank-place.com/ Southbank Place].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Shell Centre Redevelopment – Canary Wharf Group|url = http://group.canarywharf.com/construction/current-projects/shell-centre-redevelopment/|website = Canary Wharf Group|access-date = 20 October 2015|language = en}}</ref>

The 9-storey ranges of the Upstream Building have now been replaced by a cluster of new predominantly glazed towers around the original Shell tower. They are considerably taller than the earlier buildings, but are all lower than the Shell Tower.

The staff amenities of the swimming pool and theatre in the basements have not been re-provided in the new development.

The Charoux 'Motorcyclist' sculpture was reinstated on the Chicheley Street side of the development in May 2019<ref>{{cite web |title=CWC Southbank on Twitter -29th May 2019 |url=https://twitter.com/CWCSouthbankPl/status/1133701072831340544 |access-date=16 April 2023}}</ref> but (as at April 2024) Franta Belsky's 'Shell Fountain' has not yet been re-erected.

==See also==
* [[Tall buildings in London]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons cat}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070313022321/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=shellcentre-london-unitedkingdom Shell Centre]}} at Emporis.com
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zUQD1p9bXY Look at Life - Rising to high office] (Rank Organisation newsreel focusing on the newly-opened Shell Centre in 1963).

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{{succession box
| before=[[Royal Liver Building]]
| title=[[List of tallest buildings in the United Kingdom|Tallest Building in the United Kingdom]]
| years=1961–1962<br/><small>107 m</small>
| after=[[CIS Tower]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Buildings in the United Kingdom timeline}}
{{shell oil}}
{{London landmarks}}
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[[Category:Skyscrapers in the London Borough of Lambeth]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Lambeth]]
[[Category:Office buildings completed in 1962]]
[[Category:Shell plc buildings and structures]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures on the River Thames]]
[[Category:Skyscraper office buildings in London]]