Bush House
Now part of the Strand Campus of King's College London, Bush House previously served as the headquarters of BBC World Service. The broadcast from Bush House lasted for 70 years, from Winter 1941 to Summer 2012.
Sections of Bush House were completed and opened over a period of 10 years: Centre Block was opened in 1925, North-West Wing in 1928, North-East Wing in 1929, South-East Wing in 1930, and South-West Wing in 1935. The full building complex was completed in 1935.
The building was commissioned, designed and originally owned by American individuals and companies. Irving T. Bush gained approval for his plans for the building in 1919, which was planned as a major new trade centre and designed by American architect Harvey Wiley Corbett.
However, by the time the Centre Block was completed in 1923, a slump had hit trade and manufacturing. The original purpose of the building had to be reconsidered and the other wings were adapted for more conventional office use.
Despite this, Bush kept to the original spirit of his plan, and above the main Aldwych entrance you can still see the two imposing figures which represent England and America. They hold between them the torch of human progress above the motto "To the friendship of English speaking peoples". The figures were carved from Indiana limestone by American sculptress Malvina Hoffman in her New Jersey studio.
Bush House was in 1929 declared the "most expensive building in the world", having cost around £2,000,000.
In January 1930, during the Bush House excavations for the South-East Wing, a marble head was uncovered from a pile of rubble. The head is an elderly, balding Roman man carved from Carrara marble. He has a finely chiselled face and a rather grim irritated expression. The point of his nose has been broken off, and his ears have been damaged. There are various ideas to its origin. It could be a remnant from a Roman bath or villa outside the walls of Roman London, or it could have been an Italian copy imported in the 18th century and used as a garden ornament. Old maps of the area show a large house occupying a site close by. The marble head is now on display in the Centre Block of Bush House.
The BBC European Service moved into the South-East Wing of Bush House after two Luftwaffe 800 pound bombs damaged Broadcasting House on 8 December 1940. The move was completed in 1941 and the BBC Overseas Service followed in 1958. The BBC World Service occupied four wings of the building.
In 1944 Bush House suffered external damage from a V-1 flying bomb dropped on Aldwych. One of the Bush House statues lost an arm. The statue remained damaged until 1970 when an American visiting his daughter at the London School of Economics, which is nearby, saw the damaged statue. He worked for the Indiana Limestone Company and persuaded the company to send a new arm and a stonemason to attach it in time for the Silver Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
On 10 March 2015, King's College London announced that they have acquired a 50-year lease for the Aldwych Quarter.
American tourists often ask whether Bush House has any connection with George W. Bush, as far as we are aware, George W. and Irving T. are not related!
Coordinates: 51°30'46.85"N 0°07'02.31"W
