Sir Arthur Lewis Building (formerly 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields and Her Majesty's Land Registry Building) is an Edwardian Grade II listed building on the National Heritage List for England,[1] and an academic facility of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), located on the south side of Lincoln's Inn Fields in Central London.
The building was built in two stages between 1903 and 1913 to house the Head Office of HM Land Registry, with the west wing and centre of the building were built between 1903 and 1905, and the east wing was completed in 1912–1913.[2][3] The Land Registrar Charles Brickdale based the design of the building on Blickling Hall in Norfolk. The designs were executed by the Office of Works under Henry Tanner and the supervising architect was Richard Allison.[1]
The London School of Economics acquired the building in 2010 and converted it into an academic facility, through a £56 million investment.[4] The interior was transformed by the architectural firm Jestico + Whites[5][4] to include classrooms, two Harvard style lecture theatres, a cafeteria, break out spaces, and a new accessible entrance.[5] The building was opened again in January of 2013, and now houses its Department of Economics, the Centre for Economic Performance and the International Growth Centre.[6][4]
In March 2023, the building was renamed the Sir Arthur Lewis Building to commemorate W. Arthur Lewis, the LSE's first black academic.[7]
The building was the exterior set for the Halcyon Hotel in the 2017 World War II television drama The Halcyon.[3][8]
References
edit- ^ a b Historic England, "Her Majesty's Land Registry Building (1251156)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 25 May 2020
- ^ "The LSE Estate".
- ^ a b "Former Land Registry Office, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London".
- ^ a b c Publications, Roma (26 April 2013). "London School of Economics move to Lincoln's Inn Fields complete". Premier Construction News. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ a b "32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, LSE – Projects – Jestico + Whiles". www.jesticowhiles.com. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ "32 Lincoln's Inn Fields – New London Development". New London Development. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ Science, London School of Economics and Political. "LSE renames building after Sir Arthur Lewis". London School of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- ^ "Londoners welcomed the bombs and romance of The Halcyon • FilmFixer". FilmFixer. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2022.