at 80 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall.
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The brutalist Keybridge House. |
In the late 1960s, the newly automated telex service was experiencing high demand and growth. The telex exchanges in London Fleet and St. Botolphs were expected to reach capacity by late 1974. This was still the analogue era of switching, so consequently any new buildings had to be constructed on a mammoth scale to house the bulky kit. Such is the density and turnover of development in London that an older building often gets displaced by a new one.
H.W. Brand
In 1887 a new factory (Mayfair Works) was built at 72-84 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, London. Known locally as 'the pickle factory', this was finally demolished in 1969 as the Property Services Agency (PSA) had secured the 3 acre site on behalf of Post Office Telecoms for what was to become Keybridge House.
Keybridge House
"The centre will be called Keybridge House (embodying reference to the teleprinter key and the telecommunications 'bridge' provided by the centre) and the development will provide a floor area of over 770,000 square feet gross." [POEEJ Jan 1972]
Note: The later Mondial House had a floor area of approx 614,000 square feet.
The AXE10 (TXD20) opened in the Spring of 1984.
| The Design | |
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Keybridge House was a unique design of brutalist 1970s architecture built on an industrial scale to house vast switching arrays. Architects were G.W. Mills and Associates. |
| Filming | |
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Film crews used the empty floors of Keybridge House to good effect. |
| Photo Galleries | |
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Photo gallery of Keybridge, Vauxhall... |
| The End | |
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Keybridge House: Another bastion of 20th century switching is condemned. |
| New Heights | |
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Keybridge House: |
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