How Britain Built its Top Secret MI6 HQ
3,766,217
Published 2023-08-23
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Additional footage and images courtesy of MGM, BBC, Thames TV and Channel 5.
Research sources:
www.sis.gov.uk/our-history.html
books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_Spy_s_London.html…
www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2000/02/9900236.…
www.ft.com/content/741772c0-ee76-4d3d-bfcd-4fabc1f…
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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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All Comments (21)
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Get started with Brilliant today! The first 30 days are free and the first 200 users to sign up with The B1M’s link will get 20% off their annual plan - brilliant.org/theb1m/
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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
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I like it how the secret service HQ is one of the most standing out and easily recognisable buildings.
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I just know you guys had way too much fun with that title sequence
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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.
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This is far and away the best intro to any video you've ever done. Excellent work and funny too 😄
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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.
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As someone who has never been a spy, worked for MI6 or even been in the building I can confirm it's very secure.
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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.
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Smashing production seriously this channel has grown to be one of my favourite infrastructure and civil engineering channels
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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. 😮
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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!
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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.
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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'
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Fred and the team: BRILLIANT! JUST BRILLIANT!!! What a great video! Well done all of you, this is your best publication yet!
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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
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!)
