Allford Hall Monaghan Morris wins Royal Institute competition to create Whitehall replacement for New Scotland Yard

The Metropolitan police will move from New Scotland Yard to a building in Whitehall designed by architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. The revolving sign will be maintained. Photograph: Felix Clay

The firm of architects behind the vast Google headquarters currently being built in the King's Cross area of London has been chosen to design London's new police headquarters, which will replace New Scotland Yard.

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris won a competition organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects to find the most suitable and financially viable proposal for the Curtis Green building on the banks of the Thames, the former Whitehall police station.

The Metropolitan police will move there in 2015, with the New Scotland Yard building on Victoria Street in Westminster being sold.

The winning design envisages a police headquarters that will be more open and accessible and will help the Met reconnect with the public, while respecting the heritage of the Whitehall conservation area in which it is sited, the police and other authorities said.

Key design features include a new public entrance pavilion, extensions to the building itself and the creation of public open spaces. The revolving sign will be retained as well as the Eternal Flame and Roll of Honour.

AHMM is an international architecture practice based in the UK with experience of working on major buildings in the capital. Deputy mayor for policing and crime Stephen Greenhalgh said: "Scotland Yard is returning to its historical home in Whitehall.

"The new, smaller Met HQ will help deliver a 21st-century police force and AHMM's design, which includes a public space, will help Londoners to reconnect with the Met.

"By selling outdated and impractical buildings like New Scotland Yard that are costly to maintain, we can reduce property running costs.

"The money raised from the sale of these buildings will be ploughed back into frontline policing so that our officers are equipped with the tools and technology they need to fight crime and to continue to keep London safe."

> via TheGuardian