How Britain Built its Top Secret MI6 HQ
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- čas přidán 14. 05. 2024
- James Bond's London office is more than just a movie set.
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Research sources:
www.sis.gov.uk/our-history.html
books.google.co.uk/books/abou...
www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/upl...
www.ft.com/content/741772c0-e...
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#construction #architecture #cities
0:00 Intro
1:12 Title Sequence
2:00 History
4:36 Brilliant Spy Training
5:30 Vauxhall Cross
7:09 Constructing a Secret
10:08 Outro
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XD I can see you guys had fun with this one! 😀
LOL you guys went Super Saiyan for that intro
Lets see one on MoD Abbey Wood next please! A genuinely interesting architectural modern day fortress.
Jesus Fucking Christ, I lived on the 100 Westminter Bridge for a couple of years unaware that was the previous building for the MI6!!! My head just exploded
Paying for youtube premium, still getting ads
I feel like the Mi6 and Mi5 buildings being known and basically almost opposite each other along the Thames is a way of keeping other more secret buildings secret as it takes the attention away
When the MI5 building was the Department of Energy I occasionally used to eat in the basement canteen. It had a bar there too!
@@stevebarlow3154where people would listen for intel, I bet
There’s definitely other buildings. There’s other buildings which also have the same full body scanners at the entrance as this one… so they’re obviously related or just as important
Maybe this isn't actually really the sis headquarters but they actually use somewhere else and this was a ruse all along
The greatest spy agencies ever bar none 💯
I like it how the secret service HQ is one of the most standing out and easily recognisable buildings.
Where is their HQ? I thought it was Thames House but seemingly they left there in 1939 😐
A bit of an easy target
@@krashd Thames House is still in use by the Security Service (MI5)
It's a very strange looking building. Post-modern? My favorite "secret" building is 33 Thomas Street which looks appropriately menacing.
'Hide in plain sight you mug'
I just know you guys had way too much fun with that title sequence
Didnt expect to see you here
Snappy intro! Bond would be proud.
HELLO
hello mogswamp *:D*
W intro
It's also worth remembering that this is just their headquarters and they have other sites all over the country. A British friend worked at a small airport and SIS had an office just over the road. They once came in to give them a training course in spotting a new type of fake passport.
Mind Begs the Question:
Chinese Spying,TikTok - not Ok
Israeli Spying,Pegasus - Ok?
@@HumanBeingsRThinkingBeings I think Tiktok is considered far more dangerous because it's directly learning and stealing data from hundreds of millions, if not billions of people around the world in a seemingly normal manner. Tiktok is not just tracking your phone and app usages, but actually learning about habits and personalities, which is a unique information for spy software. Google, and other big tech companies do this too obviously, but they're not controlled by the government (especially not the Chinese government), and thus they're considered to be 'safer'.
Where is Scotland Yard? 🇬🇧
@@DavidLLambertmobile I think it's in the west of London
spot fake passport? i would think thats border forces job lol
This is far and away the best intro to any video you've ever done. Excellent work and funny too 😄
Hahaha, we spent WAY too much time on that 😂
@@TheB1M Yes you did and it and the ad took up almost half the vid lol
An appropriate amount of time 😂@@TheB1M
@@TheB1MWouldn’t have it any other way 😂
@@ronnymcdonald2543get revanced it cuts out all the filler ads in middle of vids
One reason for the secrecy during construction is because that was when the building was most vulnerable. That was the best chance for foreign services to plant electronic devices, learn the layout, and potentially create exploitable weaknesses. These types of things have happened with embassies.
Once completed there was no reason to keep the building secret. As SIS HQ it's massively important but not the only building they have.
that makes absolute sense
Any foreign intelligence agency would have known this already and bugged the place anyway.
And it continues to be all about the quality of the people governed, the quality of the elites alone doesn't make much.
Exactly, if a foreign government didn't think it was particularly important they wouldn't waste the effort trying to get inside.
@@BarryBulsara576ok the spy expert
As someone who has never been a spy, worked for MI6 or even been in the building I can confirm it's very secure.
How did you confirm this did you try to punch a window and failed and broke your wrist or something
A spy would say that
I imagine you giving the front door a little kick like you would kick a car's tyres then saying "sound as a pound".
it was attacked by the IRA IN 2000 with A Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank rocket. it basically bounced off the building. CONFIRMED @@zahidshabir4038
Can confirm, I'm not a spy and they wouldn't let me in, very secure building.
I went to Chelsea College of Art directly across the river and there wasn't any wifi allowed in the building due to security concerns regarding MI6. This was the very early years when the university just moved into the new campus...might have changed since then.
MAQAROON!!
@@ellie._.25 Hi!! 😂
:0 I can see that becoming a problem fast how did you overcome it?
i went to chelsea recently and i can confirm there is wifi there now lol
Eduroam now most likely?
Smashing production seriously this channel has grown to be one of my favourite infrastructure and civil engineering channels
curios how many dudes are working on this project. is it 15 or hundreds?
It's one of my favorite channels, period. And I'm not even that into infrastructure, construction, or engineering, lol.
You mean that you know of others that are good?
@@Dionysos640 Practical Engineering.
Captivating Intro. Well done.
I’ve heard several times, that the real fun, is you don’t see many people entering or exiting the building on a daily basis. Compared to how many people should theoretically be working in such a large building. Speculating many secret and tunnel entrances from the surrounding area. 😮
Almost definitely! There are a lot of secret tunnels knocking around in this country
101%
Its probably almost empty inside with a few security guards ,a tea lady and a receptionist. The real Secret Service building is probably secret. 😅😅😂😂😃😄
Tube stations I reckon. Through staff only doors 😂
Most staff would be shift workers and would enter and leave at various times during the night and day including weekends and holidays.
A guy I knew was working in construction of the new massive sewer tunnel, driving piles into the ground right outside of the SIS building (all cleared with them)... but, after about 30 mins a load of guys with guns came out from inside the building and made them stop, sounded like it was interfering with equipment. After some high profile calls, they were able to start again - but a fun day for a construction guy!
bullshit
I did the UXO survey on the foreshore in front of the building for the new sewer system. We were constantly being watched. When they put the plans in for the vertical shaft it was turned down and they were told where it was going. There's tunnels all over the place under there. Rumour has it the building on the opposite side of the river is connected to it, big building with no windows.
I remember visiting London and driving past this place on a bus, turned to my friend and said “wow, that looks like something out of James Bond” googled what it was and couldn’t believe it. Then the next James Bond film that came out it was even in the movie.
One interesting thing about that building is the apartment blocks next to it. No one seems to see the joke, but look and you'll see it. The tower blocks are topped off with lenticular steel girders that make the shape of 'spy eyes'
Another interesting thing is the building behind the apartment building that faces it on the other side of the river. Have a look at it on street view and you'll probably see why.
@@nands111 I'm looking, and I don't.
Wha?
What to type in to find this? Cant seem to find anything in images or street view. Cheers
@@nands111 do you mean the extended building with windows obscurred by blinds and lots of hvac on the roof like it could be a tunnel ventilation shaft? There must be lots of ways in and out of the main building, including directly onto the Victoria line
Fred and the team: BRILLIANT! JUST BRILLIANT!!! What a great video! Well done all of you, this is your best publication yet!
this is an infrastructure channel, not a england lover channel. England caused 3 wars in the USA, and captured the capital of the USA 2x. We speak the same language, but we are not friends
@@davidanalyst671not sure how this is related to the original comment
@@davidanalyst671 Actually, the USA and England are very good friends
@@davidanalyst671 Wow, that's a massive chip on your shoulder!
Love the intro! Seems you guys had a lot of fun making this vid.
Def interesting and would love more content like this on iconic buildings that already exist.
Keep up the great work, one of my fav YT channels
What if... this is not the *actual* headquarters?
I lived next to this building up until last year and while it was honestly pretty bland and unimpressive from street level, I never remember seeing anyone go in or out of it. The building was just kind of sat there. No hundreds of people going in and out, as you'd expect for its size. Very ominous. Great info shared, I learned new things!
Just how they want it.
Probably entrances to it from different tube stations through normal looking staff only doors 🤣
Secret entrances, probably by doors in train or tube stations
Tube stations probably have secret doors for entry.
lol bland its the only building on Southside that's different its very art deco.
Speaking of modern fortresses in London: you should make a video about the U.S. embassy there.
Or embassies in general. Would be an interesting topic!
Good idea - the story of the new Chinese embassy is probably another one to follow. Will they get the site at the location of the old Royal Mint near the Tower of London. The project has just been paused and it looks like it will turn into a diplomatic struggle between China and the UK which desperately needs to upgrade the embassy in Beijing.
Yeah, it reminded me of the video on youtube called "Counter-Terrorism: London's Ring Of Steel" Pretty interesting stuff.
@@mikerichards6065is that the one that’ll have the basement that’s effectively a maze?
That would be so much harder to make. Every country needs to sign of on their embassies being featured, and featuring the UK embassies in foreign countries gives them a weaker position. But I love me some good building secrets.
@@Cantblendthis Did you mean US?
The production and opening credits on this one were epic! Especially clever and high quality. Great work as always!
I watched the build both from the road and from next door (Camelford House) where I worked at the time. It would seem, from what I've read, that after the building was completed to the original designs and specs, the government approved contractors moved in and changed the interior layouts, added 'new stuff' such as blast walls and curtains and replaced all the windows with panels that looked about 30cm thick - heaviest looking windows I've ever seen!
Yes but if you sit at the right place in a building close by you can see all the people walking in and out of that building.😂
Someone had fun editing this video. Amazing content as always, my father was an architect, and watching you guys helped me more understand his field of work.
need skills, brilliant !!!
this channel ??????
he need a REAL job, but is not any artistic !
Dont forget the Post Office tower was an official secret. A 177m tower in the heart of London, visible for miles around, with a revolving restaurant open to the public near the top, was a secret.
There's a Secret Nuclear Bunker near London. I know this because of the brown tourist road signs that say "SECRET NUCLEAR BUNKER" on them.
Nonsense. The tower itself was never a secret; what was a secret were the exact details of the non-commercial communications traffic which it handled in addition to all the regular telephone stuff.
I just have a casual interest in construction, but man these vids are so well produced it really brings it to life. Awesome work!
Incredible editing, commentary and overall journalism! Thank you B1M. Incredible editing, commentary and overall journalism! Thank you B1M.
Can't believe they made the build from Skyfall into Real life
Haha, inspired by the movie...
😂😂😂😂😂
Uhhhh you do know they filmed this building for the movie right? It's literally the same building. The books author was literally an intelligence officer himself lol😂
@@joshschneider9766hes not being serious bro..
@@joshschneider9766 NO WAY?! I would've never guessed...
I went for a job in my town a few years ago and was surprised to find out it was a building for MI6. I was in construction at the time and honestly didn’t believe my coworkers when they said who the job was for but as we progressed through the build, I started to believe.
We built “bomb proof” walls around all the servers and then full body scanners at all entrances. Near the end of the job, we’d have sweeps of the building, most likely checking for bugs and other devices.
Did you not have to sign an NDA?
@@user-ed7et3pb4o Well, if they don't reply, that'll be an answer of sorts...
@@user-ed7et3pb4o No which I thought was weird, this is also the reason I didn’t believe it was the Secret Services at first. If I did sign one, I’d most likely be getting a knock at my door very soon. The only things we couldn’t do were, taking pictures or keep plans of the building for to long.
The building is above the registry offices in Manchester, UK. You’d never know it was there but it certainly is. It covers 3 floors of that building.
Please spill more beans here. Floor plan design, security devices etc. The Kremlin wants to know. 🎤
@brandonpinto5290
Anything he said, the Kremlin already knows.
It is so nice to be able to visit James Bond headquarters and know that it is actually the MI6 headquarters in real life
I was unaware of the SIS name until the early 2010s. I thought the UK 🇬🇧 used the MI labels.
It's so funny to me to hear it described as a fortress! I grew up quite literally around the corner from MI6 headquarters and saw it everyday on the way to school. To me, it's always been that grungy building with weird coloured windows next to Vauxhall station!
I use to live in London and from time to time I would walk past it. I was always fascinated by the imposing presence of this building. I use to imagine that is the perfect hiding spot in a zombie apocalypse.
James Bond and Shaun of the Dead crossover? That gets my vote!
MI5 also got a refurbished building on the opposite side of the Thames on Milbank in 1994 and the joke used to be that they were opposite each other (although not directly opposite) so they could keep an eye on the real enemy !!!
In John le Carre's books people from "The Circus" (his fictional equivalent of SIS) referred to MI5 as The Opposition. Possibly something he picked up when he was in the real SIS.
Just before I left the RAF I applied for a photographic job with the SIS. Intriguingly the job description stated that applicants ‘must not have a fear of heights or enclosed spaces’!?! Interviews were to be held at a central London hotel.
Sadly I failed the pre-interview aptitude test, which I remember clearly, being asked questions about a false identity that applicants had to remember details of. (I didn’t!)
Fantastic work with those Bondesque opening credits. They’ve left me shaken, but not stirred.
I’ve not gotten past the intro sequence yet and what an intro, Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman would be proud.
Hey man, just a quick compliment. Your awesome at narrating. Precise, clear and subjects that are interesting. Nice one!
You’re*
I once tried to take photos of Vauxhall Cross from near where Fred was standing and someone called the police on me. Within 2 minutes a red police car with armed police officers showed up. When I told them I was just interested in architecture and showed them the photos we had a nice chat and they left me to get on with it. haha.
I really love how you guys leaned into the Bond theme, very well done, I truly enjoyed it.
You guys really went all in for this one! Hats off to you lads!
Absolutely the very best intro to any B1M video ever! Thanks for sharing the history Fred. Love the back story.
I love your commitment to make your already amazingly informative videos also super fun and the way you pull it off.
This opening sequence was crazy good! This channel always delivers straight w’s
Incredible editing, commentary and overall journalism! Thank you B1M
there was no journalism found. I literally know nothing more than a wikipedia page could have told me in 30 seconds
Very entertaining intro 😋. That a lot had gone into physical exterior protection only became apparent in September 2000 after the IRA fired an RPG-22 anti-tank rocket at the building. Despite being hit 8 floors up, the building shrugged it off with nothing more than a bit of soot on its facade..
Been with this channel for a long time. Absolutely loving these videos guys great job!!!
Fantastic content. Thanks for the all the years you have been doing this awesome stuff
Their location is known now via the movie industry and news outlets, I don't think it's a secret anymore. They are more known now than Victoria's Secret.
As always with Fred, great presentation and production. Well, that's not a secret.
Haha thanks! This is a decoy we think...
PLOT TWIST: THIS IS NOT THE SIS BUILDING... ITS A DECOY
Elizabeth's Secret!
@@notreallydaviddead
@@TheB1Mwell if it is a decoy they employ hundreds of people to walk all over that neighborhood with fake id badges in full view. Just ask people that live there if you don't wanna take my word for it
B1M really went out with their editing on this one, Fred keeping up the amazing work
the themed intro must have taken far more time and energy than other videos but it is world-class. Matches the recent bond intro's incredibly well. Should probably make the next intro for the next Bond movie whenever that comes out haha
Brilliant production! So great to see this channel grow strength to strength with each video! Keep it up team!
Again another great video! And I'm happy to see that you're promoting the Mental Health support systems for the construction industry. Similar to what I've seen for Agriculture as well. Typically these are professions that are assumed to be immune to such struggles. Everyone is impacted at times one way or another. Thank you.
The title card to this video was incredible. Whatever time it took for that... It was well spent.
Excellent video, Fred! The titles were exceptional! All very well done.
Another great episode Fred! ❤ the opening! Keep up the fantastic work you and your team are doing!!!
B1M in constant improvement, this video is great fun to watch (which is nothing new from B1M) but mostly very informative. To see, MI6 is quite a complex building. Well done guys as always!
That has to be one of the best intro title sequence I've been for a CZcams video. Nicely done! 👍
Got to say, loved the opening sequence. A masterpiece.
That entrance video was absolutely awesome !! As a bond fan I can just tell there was a lot of hard work that went into the production
I love the intro! I can imagine it took countless hours to edit and the result is really impressive!
This is so over the top, I love so much. Amazing job and at it become your most viewed video!
I was an archaeologist for the Department of greater London archaeology (DGLA) of the museum of London in the 1980s & 1990s . We did the archeology for this site - we knew it as "Vauxhall bridgefoot" and even then we knew it was going to be something to the secret service as we were required to sign the official secrets act when we worked on the site. As it was, we found not much although there was some evidence of ceramics manufacture and of the 17th century Vauxhall Gardens.
As an aside, i later worked in education and did some development work on post-16 qualifications for QCA. We were based in a building opposite green park which was, I believe, the former MI5 HQ, complete with bombproof circular room with blast doors inside.
Fred, that was a great opening! Kudos to you and The B1M Team 👍
Fantastic production as always, bonus points for the narration and intro!
Excellent work (as always), loved how you had fun with the 007 feel of the video.
That opening was awesome, so Bond 😂
Bloody brilliant channel, cheers to you 🤟🎶
I remember seeing this building from across the river about a year or two after watching Skyfall and thinking "Wait, didn't this building blow up?". It was so weird. Great video! 😃
😂😂😂
You must struggle in telling fiction from reality
@indigohammer5732 😂😅. Go easy on him, might be slow.
This quenches my top secret construction curiosities like nothing else.
I watch every single B1M video that pops up on my feed and this is the first one for 3 months.
OMG those opening credits were too fun! You ROCK!
You guys work hard on all your videos but you outdid yourselves this time. Well done!
One of the best video's you've done in a while, makes me want to watch the bond franchise again haha.
And the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary goes to...😀 what an incredibly well-crafted intro. Keep up the excellent work!
The humor in the production and stylization is so good.
Well done Fred and team, brilliant intro and, as always, extremely well grafted content.
I love the Title sequence intro. It shows once again how much work and effort you put into your videos.
Absolute quality video. Well done to you and all your team. 👏👍
Nice presentation. Your team had a blast with the Bond intro. Well done!! Cheers.
Well this was a VERY fun one episode. They’re may not be enough to go on for information about the building and MI6, sans imagination, BUT the presentation is a solid 10’s across the board. The Intro Alone deserves a separate video 🎉🎉🎉 Cheers from the States!
The one video where Fred can be: Mills. Fred Mills.
What an intro! I thought it would be way shorter than that at first, hopefully you had as much fun making it as we had watching it! 😂
As usual, awesome video!
One of the BEST videos you guys have ever made!
There certainly is something sinister about the look of this building, you could almost imagine it opening out (transformer like) revealing some alien craft.
What's more sinister is you will never see anyone enter or exit the building leading most to believe that there is more of it underground and that the entrances are linked to the Tube.
I’ve loved this channel for ages now but this is by far and away the best video you’ve put out so far! My dad always points out this building as he helped build it, love this!!
You should do a piece on the construction of the GCHQ Donut HQ in Cheltehnam, a genuinely impressive building
I stood where you were standing in the intro... 23 years ago! If only CZcams was a thing back then. We were lucky to have a portable video camera.
Absolutely the best episode so far! The MI6 building looks magnificent in its Thames location and the repairs that were carried out after they bombed M’s office are hardly noticeable! Proud 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Looks like an ugly building that adheres to the brutalist architecture.
@@Electrodexify it’s actually the front for a secret men’s outfitters.
@@philtucker1224 and MI6 is actually just a cunning business plan to sell suits
You should also cover the GCHQ headquarters, it’s a much larger and more impressive looking facility.
That's the NSA NRO of UK 🇬🇧.
I can tell you wanted to do this episode very badly!
Good work!!
The intro to this video is the best you have created yet. You must have had loads of fun with it 😁
I was particularly impressed by the music sounding enough like Bond to be recognizable, but not so much as to attract a take-down.
I don't think the Brits know what "secret" means...
this has missed out a huge chunk of key history - mi6 was first brought into existence in a building overlooking horse guards parade where Ian Fleming worked. It was part of Naval intelligence, and it continued (or continues?) to have a base there, as admiralty arch was a place where MI6 people could go until recently when Cameron sold it off to for development into a hotel. How can you miss out this key part of history and location?!!!
It's actually an Airbnb rental owned by someone who exploits it's history for cash now ;) now ask me when I stayed in it hehe
James Bond is famous not Ian Fleming 😢
Another blemish on Cameron's record then ???
You get a thumbs up just for the intro alone. Haven't even seen the main content yet. Love it 🙂👍🏽
Very well made video. Never knew I'd stick around watching a MI6 building video xD
The disappearing behind the bus act. 😁😁
Holy f, the intro is soooo cool. U could put that on every Video haha
Fascinating. A brilliant introduction. Still smiling! A good laugh is balm for the mind!
A friend of mine was being vetted for the fit out of a new office in North Sydney (AU) a few years ago and he couldn't understand why he had to go through so many background checks. I asked him if this was for the new US Consulate as they were moving to that part of town the following year and a few weeks later he revealed that indeed it was for the new consulate. He wouldn't tell me any of the details which I tried so hard to learn from him. I wonder if they didn't bother vetting the workers for MI6 since no one knew at the time it was for their new HQ. Amazing architecture.
This is an interesting change. I suspect it is also because they realized the keeping the HQ secret doesn't really help. In IT, security by obfuscation is considered a poor strategy, and I feel this is even more the case for physical objects.
After all, the people who you really don't want to know about the service probably do anyway, and it becomes hard to hide the security if you want to beef up security.
Great intro! The MI6 HQ always reminds me of Quarry House in Leeds. Wonder if there are any design connections between the two...
When the headquartes of the BND in Berlin where build a friend of mine was working in an office across the street with a view of the construction-site. They came and put a frosted glass film on his windows, installed locks and kept the keys. He still got the light but lost the view for the time of construction.
OK now, just under 2.1 million views in just seven days . . . that’s impressive. -“Well done! to the boat’s crew;” keep up the good work.
Greetings from Halifax, NS