Minster Court London
Capital city workspaces. Major central London office development design by GMW Partnership Architects.
post updated 22 January 2026
Address: 1 Minster Court, Mincing Lane, City of London, EC3, UK
Dates built: 1988-91
Design: GMW Partnership
photo © Adrian Welch Sep 2008
Approximate construction cost: £178m
17 Sep 2008
Minster Court
photographs © Adrian Welch Sep 2008
Unusual neo-Gothic office building, which created some raised eyebrows as it deviated significantly from the standard rectilinear office building formula well-established in the City: although some other buildings such as No. Poultry – Postmodern style – also differed from the norm, there was no tradition for neo-Gothic in the City in recent decades.
photos © Nick Weall
Minster Court is a complex of three office buildings, completed between 1991 and 1992 and designed by architects GMW Partnership. During the final phase of fitting-out on 7 August 1991, there was a fire in the atrium of No. 3 Minster Court which caused a serious delay in completion. The style has been described as “postmodern-gothic”.
In the forecourt, on Mincing Lane, are three bronze horses that are over 3 metres tall, sculpted by Althea Wynne; they have been nicknamed “Dollar”, “Yen” and “Sterling”. It appeared briefly in Disney’s 1996 live-action movie 101 Dalmatians as the exterior of Cruella De Vil’s haute couture fashion house, “House of DeVil”.
London Underwriting Centre
Situated in No. 3 Minster Court, the London Underwriting Centre (LUC) is intended to run in parallel with the Underwriting Room at Lloyd’s of London, providing a facility for insurance underwriters to meet brokers at a single venue (the Lloyd’s building itself being only open to Lloyd’s syndicate underwriters). The LUC specialises in international insurance and reinsurance.
Soruce: wikipedia
Minster Court London architect : GMW Partnership
Location: Minster Court, London, England, United Kingdom.
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UK Capital City Office Property Developments
Adjacent building to the west of the Mincing Lane Office Development:
Plantation Place, Mincing Lane
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Design: Arup Associates
photos © Nick Weall
Plantation Place’s glazed rectilinear volumes rise up beyond the street frontages:
photographs © Adrian Welch Sep 2008
Traditional buildings to west of the Minster Court offices:
photographs © Adrian Welch Sep 2008
Minster Court Offices Building
Nat West Tower in the Square Mile refurbished 1995 by GMW Architects
1 Undershaft Tower City of London
Design: Eric Parry Architects
image : DBOX, courtesy Eric Parry Architects
Lloyds Building, City of London
Design: Richard Rogers Partnership
Comments / photos for the Minster Court London – Mincing Lane Offices design by GMW Partnership Architects page welcome.
