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Baden-Powell House

Baden-Powell House
Bphouse01.jpg
General information
Architectural style Modern architecture
Town or city Kensington
London, SW7
Country United Kingdom
Completed 12 July 1961; 55 years ago (1961-07-12)
Cost £400,000
Client The Scout Association
Design and construction
Architect Ralph Tubbs
Structural engineer Harry Neal Ltd

Baden-Powell House, colloquially known as B-P House, is a Scouting hostel and conference centre in South Kensington, London, which was built as a tribute to Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. The house, owned by The Scout Association, hosts a small exhibition relating to Scouting in its current form and a granite statue by Don Potter.

The building committee, chaired by Sir Harold Gillett, Lord Mayor of London, purchased the site in 1956, and assigned Ralph Tubbs to design the house in the modern architectural style. The foundation stone was laid in 1959 by World Chief Guide Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, and it was opened in 1961 by Queen Elizabeth II. The largest part of the £400,000 cost was provided by the Scout Movement itself. Over the years, the house has been refurbished several times, so that it now provides modern and affordable lodging for Scouts, Guides, their families and the general public staying in London. The building also hosts conference and event space for hire.

Acting on a 1942 initiative by Chief Scout Lord Somers, a formal Baden-Powell House Committee was established by The Scout Association in 1953 under the direction of Sir Harold Gillett, later Lord Mayor of London. The committee's directive was to build a hostel to provide Scouts a place to stay at reasonable cost while visiting London. For this purpose, in 1956 the committee purchased a bombed-out property at the intersection of Cromwell Road and Queen's Gate at a cost of £39,000.


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