[5] Its location at Century House was classified information, though The Daily Telegraph reported that it was "London's worst-kept secret, known only to every taxi driver, tourist guide and KGB agent".

[7] Century House was described as "irredeemably insecure" in a 1985 National Audit Office (NAO) report with security concerns raised in a survey; the modernist building was made largely of glass, and had a petrol station at its base.

[7][10] Security concerns combined with the remaining short leasehold and cost of modernising the building were important factors in moving to a new headquarters.

[11] Several industrial buildings were subsequently built on the site after the demolition of the pleasure gardens in the 1850s, including a glass factory, a vinegar works and a gin distillery.

[11] Farrell's design for the building was influenced by 1930s industrial modernist architecture such as Bankside and Battersea Power Stations and Mayan and Aztec religious temples.

[18] The building was completed in April 1994 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on 14 July 1994.

[22] Writing in The Daily Telegraph after the attack, journalist Alan Judd referred to detractors who wished a less visible physical presence for SIS; writing that "Both sides of the Whitehall debate might now claim vindication by the rocket attack: on the one hand, the building's profile made it an obvious target; on the other, a headquarters with expensive security protection has been shown to be necessary.

"[7] On 1 June 2007, the building and its curtilage were designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

[23] In August 2010, two men from North Wales were arrested after a parcel bomb was found at the SIS building's postal handling centre.

Farrell's many critics and opponents ... would call it a nightmare: a secret service fortress, provided by a private speculator, designed by an avowed populist, and sited on a most prominent river location.

[33] Vauxhall Cross has featured in several recent James Bond films, where it is depicted as the home base of the fictional 00 Section and its associated Q Branch.