The bunker was designed to cope with attacks by weapons of the type used during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

[1] The development of the hydrogen bomb and the expectation of mutually assured destruction meant that the war room was both inadequately protected, and seen as too small to support the large live-in staff that would be needed after a major nuclear strike.

Its principal responsibilities were transferred to a new Regional Seat of Government 6 (RSG-6) at Warren Row near Maidenhead.

Some sources suggest that it continued in use as a civil defence communications centre for some period after this transfer.

[citation needed] In the University's updated development plan announced in autumn 2007, the bunker was marked as being scheduled for demolition, along with the wartime 'temporary office buildings'.