Biohazzard in Cricklewood

Demolition 'Bio-hazzard' in North London?

In fact it was constructed in 1937-9 as one of four secret emergency alternative locations in north London for the Whitehall ministries to relocate to if they were forced to abandon central London in a 'Black Move' during WWII.

The Admiralty, Air and War ministries and the Cabinet Office constructed beneath anonymous buildings deep reinforced basement bunkers designed to protect against the largest known bombs. At Oxgate, Staples Corner, Cricklewood, London the Admiralty utilised a corner site next door to their existing Chart Factory, code named IP for 'Insurance Party'

Fast forward to 2024 and the building and bunker, after a spell as the Health and Safety Executive, a carpet warehouse and a place of worship, is proposed to be demolished and replaced by a mixed-use development of 22 stories and 3 basements, comprising flexible light industrial; hotel; gym; spa; swimming pool; conference centre; community hall and basement car parking. The Planning Application 20/4143 was approved in December 2024 by Brent Council.

With a party I visited the bunker in about 2000 with the permission of the carpet warehouse after it had flooded to the roof and been pumped out – it was a sub-basement of massive reinforced concrete construction with an array of squat pillars, containing partitioned rooms otherwise empty apart from a very curious concrete internal room, obviously unfinished. This was lined with shelves and entered by bending double through a single low square hole, clearly a strong room.

Strewn across the floor were about a hundred polythene screw top bottles, each with a felt tip name on and containing some liquid.

I knew a previous occupant of the building had been the H&SE, and the room looked as if it had been specially constructed post war as a strong room, buried in the deepest most protected bunker available – what could necessitate such protection? I certainly wasn't going to open any of the bottles! But I did take one away with the most unusual name I could find – 'Janice S*******'.

A search of the electoral roll found only one person with this name, so I wrote to them, explaining how I had found this bottle with her name on in the basement of a H&SE building, and asking if she could explain how it got there and what was in it. She wrote back denying ever knowingly interacting with the H&SE, and then I was telephoned by the security department of her employer, which was apparently some very sensitive organisation, wanting to know what I was up to! All very mysterious. I photographed the bottle and then buried it unopened.

Examining the planning application for the development by TODD architects for AMAFHH Investments, the internal partitions including the strong-room have been left off the plan of the bunker, which would be demolished under the proposals. Either they have already been removed; or they have been left off as irrelevant; or it is an error; or the contents of the strong room are harmless; or I hope they know what they are doing!

At 403 Edgeware Road in London, just south of 'Staples Corner' stands an ordinary three story brick building which most people, if they thought about it at all, would assume was a 1940's telephone exchange.

Evidently the bottles had originally been on the shelves but had floated off as the water rose, and then were left on the floor when the water was pumped out; I think there is one in the photograph above. It was an extraordinary sight!

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