[1][2] Civic leaders had deemed the building in Whetstone as uneconomic to operate as they sought to save circa £1 million a year in accommodation costs.

[3] The site that they selected for the new building had previously been part of Hendon Aerodrome, until it was closed in 1968, and was designated by the council as a regeneration area.

[5] It was designed by Hawkins\Brown in the modern style, built by Galliford Try in concrete, brick and glass at a cost of £36 million and was completed in September 2019.

[10][11] A new public area, to be known as Patterson Square, was established in front of the building on the corner of Bristol Avenue and Grahame Park Way.

Patterson instructed trainees on various aircraft included the de Havilland Mosquito and the Vickers Wellington during the Second World War.