The Secret Security of America's London Embassy

This is how the US built its most hi-tech and controversial embassy.

Additional footage and images courtesy of TRT World, Channel 4, CBS, The Walt Disney Company, Google Earth, HBO

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0:00 Intro
1:25 London Embassies
3:44 Little America
5:41 Masterworks
6:58 Sarf London
9:21 The Secret Fortress
11:49 Outro

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© 2023 The B1M Limited

[gordon]

8:11 "It's Birmingham" I'm dying. Best little side joke in a B1M video ever.

[BercowSandwich]

That delivery of "South London..." by Fred was absolute gold

[TravellingTechie]

Have to renew a US visa from time to time, the new Embassy in London is a vast upgrade from the loud, echoey, uncomfortable old facilities. Did not like the location, but prefer how they handle the people.

[markfrancis]

When the US approached the UK government about their choice for the new embassy location. It fulfilled their priority requirements…
They could dig as deep as they wanted with no infrastructure problems (7 times deeper than high above ground). Near the Thames for helicopter access in emergencies, paid for by sale of Grosvenor Square property entirely, they got their own design, size and scale of surroundings before anything else built around, now several new embassies are opening nearby and more to come.

[curiosity]

for US, having an embassy in UK is like having a room in their parent's house. 'Special Relationship'.

[DroneMotion]

Thanks for using some of our drone footage for this video! It's great to see it incorporated into such a fantastic edit. 10/10!

[t]

It’s very cool that the U.S. used a host of traditional U.K. design techniques. The intermingling of the trees is a subtly great statement.

[mopippenger]

I think this is a huge upgrade. The old chancery seems like a blight on the historic neighborhood and much more imposing than the current structure, which is surrounded by comparable new developments. Rising from industry and distancing itself from the rest is distinctly American and reminiscent of its history over the past century, while the use of obscure security features while maintaining a friendly appearance is indicative of America's current stance on the world stage.

[johnoleary]

Very informative. I worked in Grosvenor Square for 3 years during the time of 9/11 and the embassy required increased protection. It was clear it would have to move as increasing numbers of security barriers were put in place.

[WILLIAMWALES]

Texas, that was once a republic, actually had an embassy in London in the 1830s

[willcookmakeup]

This was so interesting for me to watch. My grandfather was a diplomat back in the 50s and they got to do some pretty amazing things and lived all over the world

[ShaneWiiams]

Really clever design to make the building approachable but extremely safe. Too many embassies have high cement fences and look like prisons. US embassy in Singapore for example. I used to live in Vauxhall in the 2000s, and the change in Nine Elms is incredible, Sainsbury used to have a huge empty car park and there were a lot of unproductive empty warehouses, now there is housing and luxury housing worth a fortune. Good to see a positive change there!

[Tuberuser]

The contraptions over the windows look more like stylised RPG protection rather than "for birds".

[LoveStallion]

I love that the old embassy looks totally out of place in Mayfair, but it'd blend in anonymously if it was in L'Enfant plaza in DC.

[michaelgarlickmovies]

I went there for my US Visa interview. It impressed the hell out of me. It's a fortress but didn't seem like it. The approaches were softened by plantings and water, the entrances were fully controlled but you didn't feel like you were being constantly surveilled, it was almost relaxing. The Visa application floor was open plan apart from the interview booths, with a very nice cafe and seating. In a word, as buildings of this nature go, it's 'brilliant'.

[ferrusvilkas]

In this 12+ minute video, only about 2 minutes were actually dedicated to "The Secret Architecture of America’s $1BN Fortress". In total the time spent talking about specifically the new embassy probably didn't even reach 4 minutes. That's garbage, not going to lie.

[bogdantrip]

Love your videos Fred. Such a pleasure to watch them. Keep up the good work!

[TheLiamster]

The weirdest embassy in London is the North Korean one in Ealing. I’ve driven past it several times and it just looks like a regular house but it has the NK flag flying outside

[UbiWosi]

great video. I was walking around here 2 weeks ago, checking it (the US Embassy), and Battersea power station, out. Impressive how they rebuilt and washed the towers etc, of the power station

[xjdisuehd]

The new location for the chancery also had to deal with available connections to an Internet cable. The American chancery in London is the data processing center for European theater and European intelligence, sent back to CONUS. The data quantities are vast, and this was a major constraint in the older chancery.