Royal Mint Court
Key Details
Overview
Royal Mint Court is a development site next to the Tower of London EC3.
It comprises four office buildings and an adjacent residential block.
The total net lettable area for the commercial accommodation was approximately 470,000 sq ft, around 700,000 sq ft gross.
The site includes the refurbishment and restoration of Grade II* listed Johnson Smirke Building, and the remodelling/refurbishment of the Grade II listed Registry Building.
The History of Royal Mint Court
2022 December - Plans for the new Chinese Embassy are refused.
2021 June - Plans submitted for the redevelopment of the Royal Mint Court site.
2020 November - David Chipperfield Architects are announced as the designers of the new Chinese Embassy.
2018 May - Delancey and the LRC Group sell the site to the People’s Republic of China. The site had planning consent to remodel and refurbish the 5.2 acre Royal Mint Court into a 600,000 sq ft commercial scheme.
Royal Mint Court comprises an extensive 5.4 acres on the former Royal Mint site. Previously home to the Royal Mint, with over ten centuries of coin production on the site and the adjoining Tower of London, the first coin was struck on the site in 1810, and one of Royal Mint Court’s first jobs was to strike medals for the troops at the Battle of Waterloo.
In 1560 it was used by the Royal Navy for its first large scale victualing yard, and in 1696 Sir Isaac Newton was appointed as warden of the estate.
The Cistercian Abbey of “St Mary De Grace” (sometimes referred to as Eastminster Abbey) occupied the site, from 1348 to 1539. In 1562, the site became the Royal Navy Victualling yard until 1784, when it became a tobacco warehouse.
In 1798, a committee of the Privy Council appointed by King George III decided that a new building was needed to house the “Royal Mint” which for over 500 years had been located within the “Tower of London”. Construction commenced in 1807.
The “Johnson Smirke” building was named after the two architects responsible for its inception. The first architect chosen was James Johnson. Unfortunately, he died in 1807 and never saw his design realised. Sir Robert Smirke completed the works and went on to design the British Museum in 1823.
The Company of Moneyers led by the “Mint Master” - a post held at one point by Sir Isaac Newton - manufactured all coins of the realm. When decimalization was introduced in the early 1970's operations were transferred to new buildings in Wales. Minting ceased at Royal Mint Court in 1975.
From 1988 onwards the Johnson Smirke Building at No 4 Royal Mint Court was home to Barclays Bank Executive Board and following their re-location to Lombard Street in January 2000, the building was taken over by Landmark Plc and has been successfully run as a high quality serviced office centre ever since.
The nearest tube station is Tower Hill (District and Circle Lines).
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Site & Location
The 2.10-ha site is located northeast of the Tower of London and on the east side of the Tower Hill traffic interchange. The area is bounded to the north by Royal Mint Street and by East Smithfield to the south.
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Disclaimer
Information on this page is for guidance only and remains subject to change. Buildington does not sell or let this property. For more information about this property please register your interest on the original website or get in touch with the Connected Companies.