Old War Office

Maybe its because of its location. Whitehall, Westminster. Maybe its because of its history. Used as Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s headquarters during WW2, the workplace of Ian Flemming, and a venue for 5 James Bond films and part of The Crown. Or maybe its because of what’s inside. A £30,000 gold leaf ceiling, marble bathrooms and ensuites throughout, a ballroom, swimming pool, spa, private lounge, and a fitness centre to name a few.

And prices are not for the faint-hearted. Starting at £5.8million for just two bedrooms, the prices only rise on upwards but you can be assured they’ll be worth every penny.

This grade 2 listed, 760,000sq.ft development is being refurbished into a 125 room hotel and 85 luxury apartments after being vacant for 8 years. This building has gone from being a vital part of management of the war to a highly sought after, iconic residence that Selo are proud to be a part of.

We are lucky enough to get involved in a lot of refurbishment projects, as there are key requirements on refurb.

1. The products need to adapt to the building layout – for example the size. We make all our products to suit, we can adjust to your required sizes.
2. Installation needs to be very fast and easy, as program dates are tight. We pre-hang, paint and factory fire stop our doors.
3. Walls are a mix of new and old, and that’s why we fire test in rigid, flexible and associated constructions to cover all eventualities.
4. Again, lead times need to be kept to a minimum to reduce the time between detail confirmation and products delivered to site. We consistently have some of the shortest lead times in the industry.

The building was bought in 2016 by the Hinduja family for £350 million where they appointed EPR Architects and 1508 to design the redevelopment, along with the contractor Ardmore Group. Selo and Enigma are proud to have also been chosen for the most prestigious redevelopment in London. We’ve supplied over 600 metal riser doors, over 200 sliding pocket door frame kits, multiple clad riser door sets, automatic opening vents, access panels, and concealed frame door sets.

We worked with the architect to ensure their vision was fulfilled for this stunning property. We made sure extensive fire testing was done on different wallpapers and gypsum mouldings to ensure they could use what they wanted to on our riser doors and still be compliant.

The redevelopment will be creating around 2500 jobs and offering around 100 apprenticeships including in construction, plumbing, electrical, and carpentry. Due to the hexagonal shape of the building it was a challenge to fit everything in effectively but careful planning resulted in each residence being unique in shape and size making them even more sought-after because of their uniqueness.