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Report - - Midland Bank Headquarters, London - September 2014 | Other Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Midland Bank Headquarters, London - September 2014

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The_Raw

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
The former London headquarters of Midland Bank, a Grade I-listed property designed by Edwin Lutyens and John Alfred Gotch and built in 1925, is soon to be turned into a boutique hotel. The imposing building, in the heart of the Square Mile, was vacated six years ago by HSBC, which bought Midland in 1992. It has since operated as a branch of NatWest and as a filming location for Channel 4’s game show The Bank Job. Its vaults also appeared in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. The sequence in which it appeared sees the Bond villain Oddjob meet his demise. The new hotel will be part of the Soho House group, which owns a string of private members' clubs (some with accommodation), restaurants and stand-alone boutique hotels. The large building will feature 255 rooms, as well as restaurants, bars, spa and gym facilities and a swimming pool.

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A few of us were scoping this place out for a while since Pinkman & Vixxie mentioned it, the only access point visible involved some mission impossible style abseiling and although I wasn't keen on it looked like the only way forward. Anyway, as luck would have it I spotted two security guys stood outside the front door smoking last week and I decided to take a more direct approach. I went over and asked them a bit about the building and who could I ask for permission to take a look inside. They told me they weren't allowed to divulge any information about their employer other than he is a Russian billionaire turning the place into a luxury hotel with work starting in just 2 weeks. I looked past them through the open door and asked if there was any chance I could take a quick peek and miraculously one of them said "yeah go on then". I followed him in and asked if I could take a few pics and again he said "yeah go on then". He gave me a quick walk through the main hall which was at one time the largest bank hall in Europe, and when I asked if I could see the vault he said "yeah go on then, you're lucky I'm in a good mood today" and took me downstairs to the amazing vault which was used in Goldfinger. I couldn't believe my luck! I tried a cheeky revisit this afternoon hoping a grab bag of maltesers (half price in Tesco at the moment by the way) might persuade them to let me in and see some other bits such as the spiral staircase but I got a firm NO from the other dude that was present last time, who in all honesty wasn't keen on me coming in that time either. He told me it will become a construction site starting in 2 days time so perhaps I had the last chance to see it in this state, but perhaps not, I guess it depends whether or not construction happens as planned. Hope you enjoy the pics, they were all taken handheld in the space of about 5 minutes but came out pretty well considering. The vault door was one of the best things I have ever seen :D

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Thanks for looking :D
 
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Fudge

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Awesome, love this style of interior.

That vault door is something else too.
 

ACID- REFLUX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Well these are more Mint than a packet of Polos mate :thumb

Certainly proves that if you don"t ask you don"t get :)

I don"t know about "Goldfinger" but you"ve certainly got the "Midas" touch mate :Not Worthy

The only thing lacking for me is "Pussy Galore" :D
 

ASOM

One-Man Urbex Art Army
28DL Full Member
Wow, props!! Reeespect. We're not worthy, etc!!:)
Very cool indeed.
 

Wevsky

A Predisposed Tourist
Regular User
That vault is the stuff you only hope to see in your lifetime..doesnt hurt to ask mate :thumb
 

TheVicar

Loyal to the Drain
Regular User
Lovely shots mate. Old banks really were impressive places back in the day!
Used to bank with Midland but once HSBC took over they quickly went downhill and I got shot of them.
 

Adders

living in a cold world
Regular User
That place is incredible! I was about to jump out my window and run into town before I realised it was with permission. :(
 

The_Raw

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Top blagging, that vault is almost too good to be true.

Yeah it's epic, it was like a little maze inside heading off in every direction, the caged bits were family vaults and in the pic from inside the door you can see the desk where people would come to collect their key. I didn't ask what the little trolley was for but I'd like to think it was for stacking up my gold bars :D

Fucking A1 pal! :thumb
Can you tell me next weeks lottery numbers please?! ;)

Unfortunately I think my lucky window has passed, even a bag of maltesers couldn't get me in there yesterday.... I'm not done with the place yet though, I have a plan ;)
 
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