Mansion House office space sounds like a contradiction in terms. When combining the phrase with ‘in the City of London’, the commerce powerhouse of the United Kingdom, it sounds even more contradictory.
However, Mansion House is a locale named after a mansion in the heart of the Square Mile.
Mansion House is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London. It was completed in 1752 by architect George Dance the Elder and is now Grade I listed, classifying it as a building of ‘exceptional interest’ and of the highest national importance.
Its listing documents it as a monumental, classical building with Corinthian columns and parapets amongst many other unique features.
It was built for practical reasons, so the Lord Mayor had one residence place and an office to conduct business.
It was built in the Palladian style, a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. Perhaps chosen to be in keeping with the heritage of the Italian merchants who settled on nearby Lombard Street, Palladio’s style evolved from his concepts of symmetry and perspective and the principles of formal classical architecture from ancient Greek and Roman traditions.
The Lord Mayor is the international ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services sector and heads the City of London Corporation. As such, the Lord Mayor is the setting of some of the City of London’s most formal official functions.
At the Easter banquet, the Foreign Secretary is the main speaker, who then receives a reply from the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
In early June, it is the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s turn to deliver their ‘Mansion House Speech’ on the state of the British economy. The most famous was the Mansion House Speech of 1911 by David Lloyd George, which warned the German Empire against opposing British influence during the period leading up to the First World War and relating to the Agadir Crisis.
David Lloyd George was born in Manchester and was raised in Gwynedd in Wales. He was a member of the Liberal Party and later served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922.
The imposing property in the EC4 district stands on the short Mansion House Street, which connects Bank Junction, Poultry, and Queen Victoria Street. Its convenient location is also within a few steps of Cornhill, Lombard Street and King William Street.
At one point, it had its own court of law, since the Lord Mayor is the City’s chief magistrate while in office. Eleven holding cells were within it, ten for men and one for women, nicknamed The Birdcage. A famous prisoner here was Sylvia Pankhurst, the suffragette women’s rights campaigner.
It remains the residence and office of the Lord Mayor, but it can be hired as a venue today. Its most significant space, the Egyptian Hall, rises to the whole height of the building. It hosts 500 guests and is adorned with an exquisite art collection that features treasures like the Harold Samuel Collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings.
The City has been the centre of commerce for millennia and has become the hub for all other complementary sectors.
As such, it remains home to high-profile multinational corporations, institutions, and prestigious domestic organisations.
Its unique, broad, and deep infrastructure brings world-class amenities and public transportation.
Businesses and organisations seeking office space in Mansion House can choose from an assortment of brand-new Grade A office buildings and iconic period buildings that have been extensively yet delicately renovated and retrofitted to provide premium office space and workplace solutions with ultramodern business technologies and facilities.
Businesses can rent a wide range of high-quality office spaces in Mansion House on traditional leased terms and a growing selection of luxury flexible office space and workspace options.
Also known as flex spaces, many high-end office providers and workspace operators offer agile business space solutions such as private serviced offices, managed office suites and self-contained floors and buildings.
Luxury managed offices are ready-fitted, but the client can customise the space. During the furnishing and fit-out process, the client can specify private reception areas, meeting rooms, executive office suites, open-plan hot-desking zones, libraries, break-out areas, kitchens, bathrooms and shower facilities. The client can also design their own service level package.
Serviced private offices are fully furnished, fitted, and equipped with state-of-the-art business technologies. Clients enjoy access to 5-star amenities, including fully stocked kitchens, bookable meeting rooms and boardrooms, breakout areas, casual working spaces, fitness and wellness facilities, cafes, and outdoor areas.
In contrast to renting office space on a long-term lease, these modern flexible options are occupied by short-term, extendable contracts, allowing a business to expand within a building as business needs dictate.
Many offices in Mansion House offer space to accommodate 500 desks or more. Equally, the office licences allow a business to contract when needed.
These office spaces offer the additional benefit of providing all-inclusive rental pricing. The once-monthly fee covers rent, utilities, furnishings, cleaning, secure enterprise-grade IT, and other overheads, including reception, business support, and concierge services.
The Cat A sustainable office buildings are managed ESG-consciously and offer end-of-journey facilities for self-powered commuters, including bicycle spaces, showers, changing facilities and EV chargers.
However, there is also excellent public transport in the locale. Bank Station is directly opposite the physical Mansion House property, and there is Mansion House Station, which is a few moments’ stroll away down Queen Victoria Street. Cannon Street and Monument stations are also in the immediate area.