The Daily Express Building (also known as 120 Fleet Street) is a Grade II* listed building located in Fleet Street in the City of London. It was built in 1932 by Sir Owen Williams to serve as the home of the Daily Express newspaper and is one of the most prominent examples of art-deco architecture in London.
The exterior features a black façade with rounded corners in vitrolite and clear glass, with chromium strips. The flamboyant lobby, designed by Robert Atkinson, includes plaster reliefs by Eric Aumonier, silver and gilt decorations, a magnificent silvered pendant lamp and an oval staircase. The furniture inside the building was, for the most part, designed by Betty Joel [1].
The lobby of this building was open to the public on London Open House day, over the 19 and 20 September 2009 weekend. Members of the public were allowed to view the lobby, which is normally off-limits apart from employees of the building and invited guests.[2]
The building is currently occupied by Goldman Sachs.
The company also constructed two sister buildings of similar design during this period, under Sir Owen Williams. The Manchester (1939) one being critically acclaimed[3][4] as the best of the three. The 1936 one in Glasgow still houses a newspaper[5].
In 1961 the building, the paper and its most famous editor, Arthur Christiansen, starred in the British science fiction film The Day the Earth Caught Fire, featuring a young Michael Caine. The magazine Private Eye invariably referred to the building, in the days when it was occupied by the Daily Express, as 'The Black Lubyanka'.