History
Thirty High (formerly Portland House) is a brutalist high-rise building in Victoria, initially constructed in between 1959 and 1963 as part of a redevelopment of the brownfield Stag Brewery site. Designed by the architectural firm Howard Fairbairn and Partners, its structure and proportions were inspired by the iconic MetLife Building in New York City, with it's width and elongated octagonal slab shape. Being an office building so close to Victoria Station, its desirable location also meant that it was attractive to large firms, once home to American Express, IWG and uSwitch.
In 2013, developer Landsec proposed plans to Westminster to add an extra fifteen floors to the already thirty-storey building in a redevelopment of the building into housing. The building desperately needed a bit of love, as its brutalist style and imposing demeanour contrasted to the newly constructed tall buildings around Victoria Street. This initial 2013 plan was rejected, due to concerns about sustainability and the affordability of the properties to be created in Portland House.
Just as the Covid pandemic struck in 2021, Landsec drew up new designs for the redevelopment of Portland House into an office building named Thirty High. These plans were approved passed onto construction firm McLaren to be built for £380 million. The redevelopment included Cardinal Place Estate, a retail space around the high rise building, which was already a retail centre but was going to be expanded and rejuvenised by Landsec. Thirty High's redevelopment aimed to retain as much of the existing structure as possible, including the brutalist design of the building and the concrete façade, whilst improving sustainability through double-glazed windows, redesigned floorplans and a reconstructed 'crown level' which was two additional floors added on top of the building to be used for retail and leisure purposes.
Explore 1, 2022
'Keith' and I meet up in Victoria on a Friday evening to try and infiltrate this building site, which is under demolition. Just to the south of the building, he notices a little caged stairwell leading underground, which we suspect is the route to the basement. The door is an emergency exit door, so I reach a hand into the cage and push the bar down, which promptly opens the door. We scurry down into the basement and don our hi-vis jackets on.
The basement, as usual, is a labyrinth. We keep on our toes in case workers are present. Keith and I take turns peeking around corners with our phones and we find our way to the main stairwell. Inside this building is a loud electrical buzzing noise. I assume it is from the demolition/construction equipment - it’s deafening. The noise persists until floor 5, after which only our footsteps, breathing and the rustling of our bags interrupts the silence.
After thirty grueling flights of stairs, we make it to the top of the stairwell. Keith peeks the corner and instantly retracts, stating that there’s a camera on the top door. He sees that it is not a PIR camera, so we are relieved to know that we aren’t busted yet. We don’t want to risk being caught, so we walk a floor down and regather ourselves there.
We try the other stairwell and the situation is the same: a camera is guarding the roof door. We play the safe game and try to find another roof access before considering bolting past said camera. We enter a room with a wall full of pipes and Keith spots a possible access.
It’s the most stupid climb in existence. We have to climb up through a small gap in the ceiling which the pipes also go through, and into a little motor room which is covered in cobwebs and spiders. We take turns squeezing through and passing our bags up, trying not to rip any clothing on the sharp nails and edges which accompany the pipes. I’m wearing my new Jordans which are now covered in grease, but at least we have roof access.
There are two levels on the roof, the first of which allows for air conditioning units to operate along with lift motors and other shit. We get onto the topmost level, which is a metre's floor around the perimeter of the perimeter wall, and climb up the window cleaning crane. It’s a cool night, and without the strong wind that usually accompanies such heights, it feels calm. I finish taking my shots, just as my fingers freeze from the stinging January cold, before Keith and I decide to head down the same way we came up.
Pipe access and demolition sign (obviously, not the access today four-or-so years later)
Battersea Power Station in the distance
Vauxhall, with Thames City and One Nine Elms under construction
Big boy Keith taking some heat lookdowns
Buckingham Palace?
Asian guy, must be a cool dude
Explore 2, 2025
After we hop over the fence, we land ourselves in a little shaft which I think is going to be for ventilation and pipework. There are metal grates separating the floors, but the pipes which have already been laid down go through an opening in the grates which we can just about squeeze through as well. It is reminiscent of the pipes which I had to climb up three and a half years ago. As the first floor is five or so metres above the ground, we climb on top of a scaffolding trolley to reach the first floor, and then pull ourselves up subsequent floors to ascend the building. Four floors later we find a door which lead us into the useable floor of the site. We hop over the padlocked door through an opening above it and make our way towards the stairwell.
Upon reaching the twenty-eighth floor, we set our sleeping equipment up and doze off, trying to catch as much sleep as we can on the hard metal ground. My alarm wakes us up at 6am. We look out the window to see a vibrant orange take over the horizon - a stark contrast to the overcast sky which was forecasted the day before. We grab our shit and make our way up to the roof.
My two boys scramble up the jib, the two of them choosing to go on the outside as the inside is too narrow to climb through. I enjoy the sunrise on the crane cabin and roof level, snapping away at the sky as the two of them ascend up the jib. I got one of my favourite photos on this roof, of them racing to the heavens with the sun chasing behind them.
Much better photos below, from an A6000 rather than a Canon 100D
Victoria Station down there
Race to the heavens
The additional 'Crown Jewel' floor on top of the existing structure
Buckingham Palace again
Vauxhall in the distance, much more developed now
Thanks for reading and apologies on the little amount of photos from the interior. Hopefully the roof shots make up for it.
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