County Hall, London’s Most Versatile Building, celebrates its 100th birthday.

It’s appropriate that the center of Ralph Knott’s County Hall bends as though bent by an invisible force. After all, it is London’s most adaptable structure.
On 17 July 1922, King George V opened the waterfront palace, which became the grandiloquent seat of power for the London County Council (LCC), afterwards Greater London Council (GLC). It was a reminder to Westminster that London had its own political clout, facing Parliament across the Thames.
The Thames-side site had previously housed everything from a Roman boat (a 3rd century ship was unearthed here when County Hall was being erected) to a Crosse and Blackwell ‘Export Pickles’ factory — all of which were razed to make space for Knott’s Portland stone monster.
But it was going to be the unmovable headquarters of London’s municipal government from here on out. This lasted for 64 years.
Margaret Thatcher demolished the GLC in 1986, and County Hall became Building Without Portfolio.

What to do with such a magnificent architectural creation? The obvious solution is to flood it with sharks. Shirayama Shokusan Corporation acquired County Hall’s Riverside Building complex in 1993 for a cool £60 million, and by 1997, it was packed with Namco Station’s arcade games, bumper cars, and ten pin bowling (later Namco Funscape – which was deeply lamented when it closed after 25 years). In 1997, the London Aquarium took over the ground floor of County Hall, creating an unlikely site for Londoners to marvel at the marvels of the sea in the heart of the city. The advertisements were run by ‘Sea for Yourself.’

County Hall - London Airport Transfers — County Hall – London Airport Transfers

If you thought it was a bad pun, consider this: in 2008, another tourist attraction moved into County Hall: the Movieum of London (renamed later, thank god, to the London Film Museum). You could look at items from Star Wars and The Italian Job, or even film your own film. It was a type of Hard Rock Cafe without the burgers, and it has now moved to Covent Garden.
Still, 2008 was a watershed moment in County Hall’s quest to be all things to all people: Merlin Entertainments purchased the London Aquarium, spending £5 million on new fish/water and rebranding it Sea Life London Aquarium. County Hall would be flexed from now on. Though the London Dungeons had been making tourists wet their panties since 1974, Merlin relocated it to County Hall in 2013 — providing thrill seekers the chance to be sentenced to death by Brian Blessed disguised as Henry VIII. It’s terrifying, however they may have lost a trick by not including a life-sized Margaret Thatcher as well.

The next year, rumors circulated that another County Hall attraction was in the works. What exactly would it be? A museum dedicated to the site’s Roman history? A collection of Ken Livingstone’s Socialist Worker past issues? Of course, there was London — a fantasy where youngsters might pull their parents away in pursuit of the Essence of Ogre. Perhaps not everyone’s cup of Happily Ever After Potion, but Merlin’s financial savvy was bound to leave its competitors green with envy.
The aquarium holds almost 2,000,000 gallons of water, and the hotel’s 25-meters-long, palm-fringed swimming pool — where the great/good/jammy Londonist authors go to swim — is a drop in the ocean in comparison. Still, it’s another surprising addition in a building full of them.

London Airport Transfers LTD will provide first-class service with an experienced chauffeur and a comfortable vehicle that will take you to County Hall London.