Portland House is a skyscraper in Westminster

City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. It is 101 metres (331 ft) tall with 29 floors and was completed in 1963.

The building has two banks of lifts — the first serving the first up to the fifteenth floor, and the second the fifteenth floor upwards. Firms that currently use Portland House for office space include American Express

American Express

American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...

, Crossrail

Crossrail

Crossrail is a project to build a major new railway link under central London. The name refers to the first of two routes which are the responsibility of Crossrail Ltd. It is based on an entirely new east-west tunnel with a central section from to Liverpool Street station...

, HomeAway UKhttp://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk//Owners Directhttp://www.ownersdirect.co.uk, TradeDoubler

TradeDoubler

TradeDoubler is an Internet marketing company based in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded in 1999 by Felix Hagnö and Martin Lorentzon and was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 2005....

, uSwitch

USwitch

uSwitch.com is a UK-based price comparison and switching website started in 2000. The site allows consumers to compare prices for a range of energy, personal finance, insurance and communications services...

, Upmystreet.com, Rentokil Initial

Rentokil Initial

Rentokil Initial is a major British business services group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

, AkzoNobelhttp://www.akzonobel.com and Regus

Regus

Regus plc is a multinational corporation that provides serviced office accommodation in business centres worldwide. As of March 2011, it operates 1,100 business centres in 85 countries. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...

. The office building had the head offices of British United Airways

British United Airways

British United Airways was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly private airline based in the United Kingdom at the time...

.

The building is a two minute walk from London Victoria station (mainline and tube) and Victoria Coach Station

Victoria Coach Station

Victoria Coach Station is the largest and most significant coach station in London. It serves long distance coach services and is also the departure point for many countryside coach tours originating from London. It should not be confused with the nearby Green Line Coach Station serving Green Line...

. The surrounding area has been redeveloped between 2003 and 2005 with a new shopping and refreshments area called Cardinal Place

Cardinal Place

Cardinal Place is a retail and office development in London, near Victoria Station and opposite Westminster Cathedral. The site consists of three buildings covering over a million square feet on Victoria Street next door to Portland House, and was designed by EPR Architects and built by Robert...

. The building also has a gym in the basement.

The building is part of the Cardinal Place Estate, which includes the shopping centre and development around the building. Retail establishments such as Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...

, Boots, Thorntons

Thorntons

Thorntons is a UK chocolate company established by Joseph William Thornton in 1911. Thorntons today is a £180 million turnover company with nearly 400 shops and cafes and around 200 franchises together with internet, mail order and commercial services...

, Zara

Zara (clothing)

Zara is a Spanish clothing and accessories retailer based in Arteixo, Galicia, and founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera. It is the flagship chain store of the Inditex group; the fashion group also owns brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Oysho, Uterqüe, Stradivarius and...

, Ha Ha Bar and Zizi have taken retail space in the complex.

The ground floor has a portico arrangement of pillars which reflect the octagonal cross section of the building.

The Portland House is substantially similar in design to the MetLife Building

MetLife Building

The MetLife Building, originally called the Pan Am Building, is a skyscraper located at 200 Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-History:...

 in New York City. The two buildings were under construction at the same time.

This building was successfully climbed by French urban climber Alain Robert

Alain Robert

Alain Robert , is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France...

in 2007.

External links

• Emporis.com entry