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When London’s mile-long Kingsway Exchange Tunnels were built in the 1940’s, to shelter locals from the Blitz bombing campaign during World War II, they had no idea it would one day be featuring a cocktail lounge and baristas.

Earlier this week, the plans for a $268 million (R4.7 billion) transformation of the Exchange Tunnels were unveiled to the delight of influencers and history lovers alike.

London-based architectural firm Wilkinson-Eyre proposed a sweeping series of renovations in a project called The London Tunnels, which would radically repurpose an area once used by British spies during wartime.

The country’s top-secret Special Operations Executive, an offshoot of MI6, also reportedly took up the post there, eventually becoming the inspiration behind James Bond’s ‘Q Branch’. During the Cold War, it also hosted the “hotline,” or the internal communications exchange that directly connected leaders of the United States with the USSR.

British Telecom acquired the site in the 1980s, and while it was in residence there it installed the world’s deepest licensed bar that was solely accessible to government staff. The technology behind the telephone centre was eventually phased out, so the site was decommissioned.

If plans for the tunnel’s next phase are approved later this year, though, the space will likely come roaring back to life.

 

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Expect to see these tunnels feature as backdrop for Insta stories in the near future, but for now take a tour through these historic tunnels in the below video:

[source:robbreport]