London's £30m bomb-proof 'Fort Knox' vault for the super-rich

Armitage Storage
Armitage Storage

London has a new high-security jewellery vault two years after the Hatton Garden heist saw one of the City’s largest closed down.

The new site in the West End, dubbed London’s answer to Fort Knox, is a state-of-the-art £30million ultra-secure complex.

Located 10,000sqft deep below ground through a discreet “secret entrance” off Bolsover Street, Armitage Vaults is a concrete and steel lined complex developed by Amazon Property.

The five-year project, hailed the ‘most unusual property development and offer of 2017’, will store jewels, artwork, fine wines and possessions of the world’s super rich.

Each vault is available to rent from £20 to £150 per week with insurance cover for treasured goods valued from £50,000 up to £10m.

The bunker-style complex is located over three basement floors designed to be bomb-proof, fire-resistant and water-tight and manned by the highest levels of security.

The Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company shut down in September 2015, after their reputation was damaged from the raid in April that year.

Amazon Property’s Chief Executive, Charles Gourgey, said London was in ‘urgent need for a modern storage facility’ where valuables can be stored ‘on a short or long term basis.’

“Our storage units provide easy, convenient access with constant peace of mind.”

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The art deco facility was named after Dr. Thomas Armitage, the founder of the RNIB, and was formerly occupied by the Royal National Institute for the Blind, originally built in the 1920’s by architect Claude Ferrier.

The depository also stored sight testing equipment, embossing and print machinery for Braille and the first prototypes of the Braille alphabet.

Tom Archer, Operations Director of Amazon Property confirms: “We have already had significant interest and the vaults are already 20% let, with 75% of users being from the UK, the remainder are international.”