Empire House

supposed location of Empire House

**Empire House** is the London headquarters of Mr. Ambrose's business operations, located on Leadenhall Street.

## Description

* Design
* Floors

### Exterior

Empire House is made out of dark grey stone and cast iron, built in neo-classical style. The portico leading to the entrance follows suit in austere fashion, with its projecting roof supported by two huge dark grey pillars. Unlike other buildings of its time with a more horizontal spread in design, it is built more vertically to save space, giving it a distinguished appearance from the other buildings on Leadenhall Street.

### Interior

On the inside, Empire House has barely any furniture or decorations and is equipped with pneumatic tubes for communication to match its owner's preferences for functionality over decor. Due to the stone exterior, the place is kept cool and also sparsely lit from high, narrow windows. The building has a total of seven floors with a basement– all connected by steep stairs and separated by doors.

### First Floor

The first floor of Empire House is expansive, with the entrance leading to a vast hall lined with numerous doors. The design is minimal, with the polished stone floor dark and the walls painted a dark green-blue shade– completely devoid of ornamentation save for the massive cast iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling. At the back of the hall from the entrance is a wood counter for the receptionist, Mr Pearson. On the desk lies a speaking tube that is connected to the seventh floor.

### Seventh Floor

The seventh floor is closed off by a door from the stair landing. Inside, is a wide corridor with simple, dark carpeting and more doors at regular intervals. At the end of the room is a another desk for one of the employees, Mr Stone, with multiple speaking tubes on it. Behind his desk are two large, double oak doors reinforced with steel that serve as the entrance to Mr Ambrose's office.

#### Mr Ambrose's Office

Mr Ambrose's office is wide and dimly lit, with thick, heavy curtains covering the large windows opposite to the entrance. The walls match the building's exterior– made of the same bare grey stone, with one of the walls covered by enormous wooden bookshelves. The only furniture in the room is located towards the back of the room and consists of Mr Ambrose's sizable wooden desk and two chairs oppsite to each other– one a simple visitor's chair made of plain hard wood and the other his reserved chair behind his desk. The back of the office leads to his personal bathroom, consisting of a small mirror hanging on the door, a toilet, a basin and shower.

#### Lilly's Office

Lilly's office is located on the right side of the corridor on the seventh floor and directly connected to Mr Ambrose's office through another door. The appearance is similar to that of his office, except smaller and with some key distinctions. It has the same stone walls and heavy curtains covering the windows but the large desk is instead pressed against the wall. Above the desk is a hole in the wall reserved for communication with Mr Ambrose through a pneumatic tube. Most of the room's space is taken up by massive shelves that contain varied labeled boxes of distinct files.

### Basement

The two separate entrances to the basement are sealed off by locked metal doors, with one in the wide hall on the first floor and the other from the back entrance of Empire House. From the hall's entrance is a long, lightless stone corridor that slopes downwards, leading underground into the cellars, whilst the back entrance leads directly to the cellars. The cellars themselves are used for storage of cargo and papers, and on particular occasions, for interrogation of prisoners.
## Appearances

* *Storm and Silence*
* *In the Eye of the Storm*
* *Silent Night*
* *Silence is Golden*
* *Up and Down*