Westminster House

In the mid-19th century, the site on the south east side of Portland Street had been occupied by a row of residential and retail properties which included the Portland Street Silk Mill; the area in the next block to the south east of the site (on the south east side of Major Street) was known at that time as Westminster Place and this may have been, in part, the origin of the name. The site itself continued to be occupied by the same aging residential and retail properties until the mid-20th century. The building was initially called the Portland Centre and was speculatively built by private developers between 1971 and 1973 as an investment property. It was designed by Fitzroy Robinson &…