In The Whispering Skull, we learn that Fittes House ‘lies on the Strand, just down from Trafalgar Square’. George also reveals that you can see the River Thames from the boardroom and that some of the basements stretch under the river, so it must be an absolutely vast place, both high and deep, as the Strand is not right on the river’s edge by any means. (It was in older times. You can find out more by looking at The Strand.)

One of the few buildings of that scale and footprint in the local area is The Clermont Hotel at Charing Cross station, which is indeed situated on the Strand just down from Trafalgar Square – maybe that was a partial inspiration? Another possibility is the huge former Shell-Mex House, now “Eighty Strand”, a bit further down the street. This building is a landmark visible from the river, with its huge bulk, white walls and distinctive clock tower. It’s so big it does stretch almost up to the Strand, but it’s hard to see from the street as a facade of an older building, in keeping with the rest of the Strand, masks it from view.

Right at the other end of the Strand is Somerset House, now a well known events and exhibition venue, and once a huge complex of government buildings that date back to the 1770s. It does indeed stretch from the river to the Strand, but is more of a compound or campus than a monolithic single building.

For most people who’ve watched the TV series, the “Barbican Centre” which lies further east, will forever be our “Fittes House”. (Even if it has also been used in “Andor”, “Quantum of Solace” and “Slow Horses”!)

A “Barbican” is a fortified tower in a castle or city. The term has been traced back to ancient Persian. This current barbican lies in the oldest part of London, near the few remains of the original Roman wall of the very first city.

In modern London, the ‘Barbican’ term is used to describe both the Barbican Centre, the arts venue that is Fittes House, and its surrounding residential estate (technically the ‘Barbican Estate’).Prior to WWII, the area (known as “Cripplegate”) was a busy area, full of businesses relating to the clothing industry. Cripplegate and the City were heavily bombed during the war, and by the fifties, only 48 people lived in the area which would become the Barbican.

The re-development of the area started in the 1950s. The layout of the new site is unusual, and if you look at a map of the area, you will see it has a curious curved pattern. You will also see the same curve in architectural features around the buildings, particular on the tops of towers and the roofs. The original street which was destroyed in the WWII bombing curved in a similar fashion, and the curve in the Barbican’s design is tribute to the old area of the city.

On completion, the finalised new estate was dominated by The Barbican Centre which, created at the City of London Corporation’s expense as a “gift to the nation”, was completed in 1982. The whole estate, with its imposing high-rise flats, is an iconic piece of Brutalist architecture, a style characterised by minimalist design and often a lot of concrete. This particular building has a time capsule cemented into its foundations!

When it first opened, visitors found navigating their way through the estate to the Centre so confusing coloured lines were laid into the pavement from nearby streets to guide them to the entrance (it is pretty tricky!).

The Barbican Centre Conservatory is the second biggest conservatory in London after Kew Gardens, but was originally only built to disguise the fly tower of the Theatre. Look out for the distressed textured surfaces used everywhere within the Barbican Centre. It’s a technique called ‘bush hammering’ and was done entirely by hand.

There were many iconic scenes and shots filmed in the Barbican centre for Lockwood & Co. We have included some scenes here. Locating the exact spots might not be straightforward, so we have included What3Words references where possible. It is difficult to add depth to the locations, however, so if you use the what3words address and it doesn’t look right, try the same position on a different floor! Or, So for more information, read The Fittes House Tour.