The Doughnut is surrounded by car and bicycle parking in concentric rings,[3] and is well protected by security fencing, guards, and CCTV systems.

[9] The construction of the Doughnut in 2003 consolidated the operations previously spread across two sites into a single location, replacing more than 50 buildings in the process.

[5] The building was designed by the British architect Chris Johnson for the American architectural firm Gensler,[3] and constructed and built by Carillion.

[11] In 2004, Edward Leigh, the chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, criticised the increasing cost of GCHQ's move to the Doughnut.

[12] The moves of MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) to new buildings had also cost more than three times their original estimates due to issues with transferring computers.

[13] In a review of GCHQ's move in 2003, the National Audit Office (NAO) said government ministers might never have approved the consolidation of facilities had the final cost been known.

[5] The design of the Doughnut was subsequently nominated for an award to "highlight improvements to the built and landscaped environment" given by Cheltenham's Civic Society.

[5] The Doughnut is surrounded by car and bicycle parking in concentric rings, guarded by a two-metre metal fence and half a dozen vehicle checkpoints.

[2] In 2008, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown (Lab), visited the Doughnut and praised the staff working there in a speech.

[21] Though it was initially felt that the Doughnut would be adequate for the new staff, 600 contractors working on technical projects for GCHQ were eventually relocated to a secret undisclosed building in the 'Gloucestershire area'.

[21] It was believed that the arrival of new staff may have further affected local parking, but GCHQ stated the presence of the new employees would have been offset by redundancies.

[22] Access to the Doughnut is rarely granted to representatives from the media, but it was visited for the March 2010 BBC Radio 4 documentary GCHQ: Cracking the Code,[17] by Charles Moore for an interview with GCHQ director Iain Lobban for The Daily Telegraph in October 2014,[7] and by historian and writer Ben Macintyre who visited the Doughnut for a series of articles for The Times in October 2015 in anticipation of the draft Investigatory Powers Bill.

[27] The staff wore red rain ponchos, with the black centre of the poppy formed by the uniforms of Royal Navy personnel.