Norman Shaw Buildings

The Norman Shaw Buildings stand on Victoria Embankment in the City of Westminster, overlooking the River Thames. Designed by Richard Norman Shaw and John Dixon Butler, the pair of Victorian Romanesque buildings were completed between 1887 and 1906. They were once the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police from 1890 to 1967. Since 1979 they have provided offices for Members of Parliament. The North Building is Grade I listed and the South Building is Grade II* listed. The buildings were the scene of the unsolved ‘Whitehall Mystery’ in 1888, when a dismembered female torso was found during construction. The Home Secretary Henry Matthews personally chose Shaw to design the North Building. The South Building, originally called Scotland House, was linked to the North by a bridge and fitted with iron gates by Reginald Blomfield. The Directorate of Intelligence was founded in the South Building in 1919. Visitors find the North Building refurbished with offices for 128 MPs, a library, television studios and a former dormitory now used as offices. A walkway connects the buildings to Portcullis House and the Palace of Westminster. The South Building contains offices for 56 MPs and once housed a gymnasium and a flat for the Clerk of the House. Both buildings have recently undergone major refurbishment to restore interiors and exteriors. The Leader of the Opposition keeps offices in the suite once used by Michael Howard.