By lyndamyer
As first time plan of opening and restoring the tunnels that were built to shelter Londoners during the Blitz to the public will be done.
In November, a group of investment specialists are going to submit a planning application for the project, whereas the project team comprises of architectural practice WilkinsonEyre and WSP.
With 7.6m diameter and covering an area of 8,000m2, the Kingsway Exchange Tunnels in central London were home to the Special Operations Executive after the second world war, an offshoot of MI6 the real-life location that inspired Q Branch in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, where the author was the Admiralty’s liaison officer.
In order to serving as a secure and secret long-distance telephone exchange, at the start of the Cold War the government enlarged the tunnels. The site operated the first Transatlantic telephone cable, TAT1, which was later the hotline between Moscow and Washington during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Much of the original equipment will be retained.
Being backed by self-contained water and air conditioning systems, the deepest licensed bar in London, a restaurant with mock windows as well as a recreational room with snooker tables, the Kingsway Exchange accommodated up to 200 staff during the operation.
Considering that telecommunication technology had advanced by the late 1980s, and the tunnels telephone centre became obsolete and was decommissioned, for grabing the site as it was left when it was last occupied in the late 20th century, London Tunnels has undertaken detailed digital mapping
Subject to planning approval, the vision is to bring to life the history of the tunnels by installing high-resolution large-scale curved immersive screens, together with interactive structures, scent-emitting technology and hundreds of individual acoustic pinpoint speakers.
Due to an operational capacity of two million visitors per year, the tunnels could also host different experiences in cooperation with major entertainment businesses, artists, performers and curators.
