Coordinates: 51°30′57.1″N, 00°07′46.9″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

See also Sydney Tower, for Centrepoint in Australia

Centre Point

An advert for tenants willing to rent Centre Point. This advert appeared in The Times of January 24, 1973.

Fountains at the base

Centre Point (sometimes rendered as Centrepoint) is a substantial concrete and glass office building in central London, occupying 101-103 New Oxford Street, WC1, close to St Giles' Circus and almost directly above Tottenham Court Road tube station. The site was once occupied by a gallows. The building was designed by Richard Seifert and was constructed from 1963 to 1966. It is 117 m (385 ft) high, has 35 floors and 27 180 m² of floor space and is the 19th tallest building in London. It was one of the first skyscrapers in London. Sydney Tower (also known as the AMP Tower, AMP Centrepoint Tower, Centrepoint Tower or just Centrepoint) is Sydneys tallest free-standing structure, and the second tallest in Australia (with the Q1 building on the Gold Coast being the tallest). ... Image File history File links Centre_Point_London. ... Image File history File links Centre_Point_London. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Centrepoint fountain taken by C Ford, March 04. ... Centrepoint fountain taken by C Ford, March 04. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... New Oxford Street is a shopping street in Londons West End, an eastward continuation of Oxford Street proper from St Giles Circus to Holborn. ... St Giles Circus is the region of Londons West End located at the intersection of Oxford Street, New Oxford Street, Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road. ... Tottenham Court Road is a station on the London Underground, serving as an interchange between the Central Line and the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line. ... Richard Seifert was a British architect, best known for designing the NatWest Tower, the tallest building in the City of London. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Centre Point was built as speculative office space by property tycoon Harry Hyams, who had leased the site at £18,500 a year for 150 years. Hyams and Seifert engaged in negotiations with the London County Council over the height of the building, which was much taller than would normally be allowed and was highly controversial; eventually he was allowed to build 35 floors in return for providing a new road junction between St Giles Circus, Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, which the LCC could not afford to build on its own. Hyams intended that the whole building be occupied by a single tenant. Harry Hyams, b 2 January 1928, is an English millionaire who made his fortune as a speculative property (American usage, real estate) developer. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ...

On completion, the building remained empty for many years. With property prices rising and most business tenancies taken for set periods of 10 or 15 years, Hyams could afford to keep it empty and wait for his single tenant at the asking price of £1,250,000; he was challenged to allow tenants to rent single floors but consistently refused. The prominent nature of the building led to it becoming a symbol of greed in the property industry. Some campaigners demanded that the government of Edward Heath should intervene and take over the building, and at one point in June 1972 Peter Walker (then Secretary of State for the Environment) offered £5 million for the building. Eventually Hyams agreed to let the building by floors but the arrangements were stalled. Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, OBE (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MBE PC (born March 25, 1932) was Conservative MP for Worcester between March 1961 and April 1992, and the founder of the Tory Reform Group. ... The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position. ...

A more intriguing speculation was that the government was paying Hyams "a heavy but secret subsidy to keep it empty" for its own purposes. Various conspiracy theories circulated about what those purposes might be. One common theme was that since the building was 100% air-conditioned (a rarity in London at that time), and sited over Tottenham Court Road tube station and its deep tube lines, this would somehow make it useful to the government in the event of nuclear war. Most people regard this theory as far-fetched. A conspiracy theory attempts to attribute the ultimate cause of an event or chain of events (usually political, social, or historical events), or the concealment of such causes from public knowledge, to a secret, and often deceptive plot by a covert alliance of powerful or influential people or organizations. ... Tottenham Court Road is a station on the London Underground, serving as an interchange between the Central Line and the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line. ... The London Underground is an electric railway system that covers much of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ...

At 5:30 p.m. on Friday January 18, 1974 homeless campaigners (two of whom had obtained jobs with the security firm guarding Centre Point) occupied the building in a protest that the building ought to be used to help London's housing crisis. Although the occupation lasted only until Sunday January 20, this action inspired the housing charity Centrepoint which took its name from the building. January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Centrepoint is a United Kingdom charity for young homeless people. ...

Since July 1980 the building has been the headquarters of the Confederation of British Industry. In 1995 Centre Point became a Grade II listed building. Noted architecture critic Nikolaus Pevsner described Centre Point as "coarse in the extreme". In October 2005 it was reported that Centre Point had changed hands in an £85 million deal [1]. Commercial property firm Targetfollow were named as the buyers and plans for the block are said to include a restaurant on the two top floors. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... CBI logo The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was formed in 1965 and exists as a pressure group and a lobbying organisation for its members. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ... Sir Nikolaus Pevsner CBE (January 30, 1902 – August 18, 1983) was a German-born British historian of art and, especially, architecture. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The promised transport interchange and highways improvements were not delivered following the original plan. The pedestrian subway attracted anti-social activities. On June 19, 2006 the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment pointed to the building as an example of bad design, where badly-designed paving forces pedestrians into the bus lane as they try to pass the building and accounts for the highest level of pedestrian injuries in Central London. With the planned redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road Underground Station a framework has been adopted to redevelop the traffic island beneath Centre Point as an open space. June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) is a UK executive non-departmental public body established in 1999. ...

See also

• Tall buildings in London
• List of skyscrapers

30 St. ... Taipei 101, the worlds tallest building since its completion in 2004, is located in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). ...

External link

• BBC News: Hunt for UK's 'failed' buildings