Admiralty Arch, First Sea Lord's Residence and Offices, Balustrades and Steps is a Grade I listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 5 February 1970. Office, residence. 21 related planning applications.

Admiralty Arch, First Sea Lord's Residence and Offices, Balustrades and Steps

WRENN ID
crumbling-turret-tide
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Westminster
Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
5 February 1970
Type
Office, residence
Address
Admiralty Arch, First Sea Lord's Residence and Offices, Balustrades and Steps, Trafalgar Square Wc2, City of Westminster
OS grid reference
TQ 299 803
Coordinates
51.50674, -0.12865
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: sale history · EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Admiralty Arch is an official residence and office block that includes a triumphal arch, built between 1906 and 1911 by Sir Aston Webb. It serves as the entrance to the ceremonial approach to Buckingham Palace and is part of the national monument dedicated to Queen Victoria. The building is constructed from Portland stone and features slate roofs. Its design is influenced by late Roman Baroque and reflects Webb's interpretation of Edwardian Mannerist Classicism.

The structure has concave elevations facing the Mall and the area towards Trafalgar Square, cleverly masking the necessary change in axis. It consists of two storeys, an attic storey, a dormered mansard, and a basement, although the southwest office wing has three storeys within a two-storey height. The central triumphal arch is topped with a massive blind crowning attic.

Flanking the 11-window wide central section are two wings, each six windows wide, which feature banded rusticated triple carriage archways. The pedestrian archways are located at the advanced end bays of the central section. The triumphal arch is adorned with engaged modified Corinthian giant columns, while the wings have a similar giant pilaster order. The main floor has architraved glazing bar sashes with segmental heads beneath enriched cornices.

A continuous main entablature runs beneath the channelled attic storey, topped with a balustraded parapet and a blind attic on the central section, which features a bronze inscription and is finished with a cornice and blocking course. The single bay return ends of the wings facing the Mall are channelled and pedimented, with sculpted seated figures at the base of panels that include a cartouche of arms. Ornamental bronze gates are present at the carriage archways, and there is a stone balustrade between panelled dies leading to basement areas, featuring curving arms and shallow flights of steps that define the "rond point" forecourt on the Mall side.

Local climate

Admiralty Arch, First Sea Lord's Residence and Offices, Balustrades and Steps sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

Sign in or create a free account to unlock:

  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • Sale history — 4 transactions since 2015
  • Related listed building consents — 21 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Create free account

Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.

Similar buildings

The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.

Nearby listed buildings

  1. Statue of Captain Cook Grade II 59 m
  2. The Royal Marines Memorial Grade II 63 m
  3. Royal Bank of Scotland Royal Bank of Scotland, Drummond's Bank Grade II 64 m
  4. National Westminster Bank Grade II 65 m
  5. Whitehall Theatre Grade II 72 m
  6. Civil Service Department Offices (Former Admiralty Offices) Grade II 82 m
  7. Statue of Charles I Grade I 96 m
  8. 3, Whitehall SW1 Grade II 111 m
  9. Statue of General Sir Charles Napier Grade II 114 m
  10. Pair of K6 Telephone kiosks Grade II 118 m