51°31′16″N 0°07′43″W / 51.5210°N 0.1287°W
| Senate House | |
|---|---|
 The Senate House of the University of London | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Art Deco, Neo-Classical |
| Town or city | London, WC1 United Kingdom |
| Construction started | 1932 |
| Completed | 1937 |
| Client | University of London |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Charles Holden |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Senate House, London |
| Designated | 28 March 1969 |
| Reference no. | 1113107 |
Senate House is the administrative centre of the University of London, situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, London, immediately to the north of the British Museum.
The Art Deco building was constructed between 1932 and 1937 as the first phase of a large uncompleted scheme designed for the university by Charles Holden. It consists of 19 floors and is 210 feet (64 m) high.[1]
During the Second World War, the building's use by the Ministry of Information inspired two works of fiction by English writers. The earliest, Graham Greene's novel The Ministry of Fear (1943), inspired a 1944 film adaptation directed by Fritz Lang set in Bloomsbury.[2] The description of the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) evokes the Senate House. His wife Eileen worked in the building for the Censorship Department of the Ministry of Information.[3]
Today the main building houses the University of London's Central Academic Bodies and activities, including the offices of the vice-chancellor of the university, the entire collection of the Senate House Library, six of the eight research institutes of the School of Advanced Study, as well as departments of distance learning provider University of London Worldwide.
- ^ Karol, Eitan (Autumn–Winter 2008). "Naked and unashamed: Charles Holden in Bloomsbury" (PDF). Past and Future (4). London: The Institute of Historical Research: 6–7. Retrieved 27 May 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Pleßke, Nora (2014). The Intelligible Metropolis: Urban Mentality in Contemporary London Novels. Transcript Verlag. p. 285. ISBN 9783839426722. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ Hill, Dan (22 November 2003). "Senate House, University of London". City of Sound. Retrieved 27 May 2009.